Secondary markets

Amid speculation over who will succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, there are no signs that President Barack Obama has begun a formal search.

Various proposals to restructure the housing finance system call for the creation of a “Market Access Fund” that will replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in funding affordable housing initiatives and research.

Affiliated Mortgage Co., a Monroe, La.-based subsidiary of Texas’ Benchmark Bank, has started a wholesale/mini-correspondent division that is getting started in the Lone Star State with a plan to expand from there.

Investors still want to buy in the commercial mortgage-backed securities sector while performance is relatively good, but they are mindful that recent origination standards are slipping and there are risks in CMBS 1.0 too.

Recent gains in home prices are unsustainable, but “it’s premature to describe the market as being in a bubble” as home values remain below their pre-recession peaks and prices are expected to continue to rise this year, said Standard & Poor’s.

There is $2.41 trillion in outstanding commercial and multifamily real estate at the end of 1Q13, a decline of $4.9 billion from 4Q12, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

There have been five days of triple digit moves in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Monday's market improvement included 13 Mortgage Industry Equity Composite Stocks.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have streamlined their refinancing requirements under the direction of the GSE regulator, but little has been done to ease restrictions on purchase mortgages.

Where industry credit limits stand and why was among the topics discussed by a group of industry executives convened by Origination News at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York.

The upgrades of the master and primary servicer rating reflect the completion of Wells Fargo's Systems Process Integration project and subsequent operational improvements.

Recent rate volatility created some challenges in pricing Fannie Mae’s recent $1.02 billion DUS REMIC last week but investor demand remained stronger for shorter maturities and support bonds.

A proposal by Mortgage Resolution Partners, known for some controversial past plans that involved addressing underwater loan concerns with eminent domain, is slated to be considered by the North Las Vegas City Council this week.

Although post-crisis commercial mortgage-backed securities performance is pretty good so far, the trend toward minimal interest shortfalls returning to the sector is troublesome, according to Fitch.

Most attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association's recent national secondary market conference think loan quality is pretty good right now, but some think underwriting is too tight.

The zigzag pattern of the stock market continued on Friday as 15 of 17 Mortgage Industry Equity Composite stocks closed lower.

There are three items contributing to the recent book value decline in mortgage real estate investment trust stocks: Prepay protection premiums evaporation; duration and duration extension risk; and mortgage basis risk.

Despite a respite from fresh waves of sweeping residential mortgage-backed securities downgrades due to better home prices, due to the still-high delinquency pipeline the risk of a ripple effect from some previous downgrades already in progress remains.

Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are marketing $1.5 billion of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

On the Mortgage Grapevine, poster Accptmort is looking for a commercial correspondent purchaser in Wisconsin who accepts loans or referrals from mortgage brokers.

DBRS found in a commercial mortgage-backed securities investor survey that the majority of respondents expect their holdings to increase over the next 12 months despite some concerns about loosening underwriting standards in the sector.