Secondary

The new leader, who officially joined the government mortgage-bond insurer on Jan. 3, is the first Senate-confirmed holder of the post in close to five years.

Mortgage performance in November was improving, coming close to crossing a key threshold for pandemic-era recovery, but Omicron raises questions about whether that trend will continue.

Even among the non-QM loans in the reference pool, pegged to the SOFR, most of their characteristics fall in line with what is considered prime.

Analysts expect loan growth and higher interest rates to drive up equity prices next year, even in the face of the omicron variant and other risks.

Debt issued by states to finance low-interest loans for first-time home-buyers or build affordable housing carry higher yields and are less volatile, so they typically perform better than other muni sectors when rates rise, said Peter DeGroot, head of municipal research and strategy at the biggest U.S. bank.

Average per-loan charges last year were little changed despite the addition of a new temporary fee for refinancing. Those for loan-to-value ratios above 80%, home-purchase financing and adjustable-rate mortgages only rose slightly.

ABS experts discussed new avenues for growth, and hindrances to innovation at the IMN ABS East conference in Miami.

Key retail vacancies, a drop in office occupancies, plus a combination of lower oil prices, a housing market oversupply — worsened by the coronavirus pandemic — caused loan-level performance issues.

The government-sponsored enterprise has 45 days to submit a plan on how it intends to meet the increased target for 2022 through 2024.

The Morgan Mortgage Trust platform has had a SOFR tranche on every previous 2021 deal, generally pricing with a spread of about 95 basis points over SOFR.