Securitization

Redwood Trust has exercised its option to expand its minority stake in 5 Arches to 100%, increasing Redwood's exposure to loans used for house flipping and other types of residential investment.

The specialty finance company is contributing all of the collateral for the $259.7 million deal; by comparison, the previous deal included collateral contributed by Goldman Sachs.

Loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities originated after 2009 by nonbank lenders have a significantly higher default rate than those originated by banks, a Fitch Ratings report said.

At Ginnie Mae, Michael Bright worked closely with Congress to fight churn in VA mortgages; he plans to bring the same collaborative approach to the Structured Finance Industry Group.

Michael Bright is resigning as acting president of Ginnie Mae to run the Structured Finance Industry Group, a trade association that's been without a CEO since Richard Johns resigned in July amid a reported split with the group's board.

Due diligence firm American Mortgage Consultants has purchased Meridian Asset Services as part of its continuing efforts to expand through acquisition or organic growth.

Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright will leave his post on Jan. 16 and will no longer seek confirmation to be the permanent head of the mortgage secondary market agency.

Cascade Financial Services has become the only manufactured housing loan-focused servicer currently rated by Fitch, adding signs of a rebound in factory-built home financing that could lead to new private securitization.

Lagging construction, rising interest rates and the broader economy don't really bode well for buyers of commercial real estate, but most CRE lenders still expect originations to increase in 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Freddie Mac completed its first multifamily credit risk transfer transaction that used an insurance/reinsurance structure.

The expected decline in conventional mortgage volume may open the door for more non-qualified mortgage lending as secondary market investors seek new opportunities to deploy capital, says Tom Millon, CEO of Capital Markets Cooperative.

After 10 years of conservatorship, the new year could finally usher in big steps toward housing finance reform.

Liquidity, products and pricing are the main concerns for the secondary mortgage market in 2019.

When it comes to reversing their crisis-era bond buying, central bankers are focused on the destination. Traders in risk assets care more about what could be a painful journey.

The Property Assessed Clean Energy sector is getting a boost from the expansion of improvements eligible to be financed via tax assessments, including fire resiliency and total building renovations, according to DBRS.

Next year is unlikely to offer relief from higher rates or housing supply shortages, according to the consensus forecast from 24 of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's member firms.

Both the $646M UBS 2018-C15 and the $796M MSC 2018-H4 deals have relatively low leverage, helped by the inclusion of loans with investment grade characteristics.

Investors in agency mortgage-backed securities will find next year to be "anything but smooth sailing" as Federal Reserve rate hikes and balance sheet reduction will lead to an increase in real rates and volatility while pushing spreads wider, Bank of America said.

As home value appreciation slowed, gains in home equity for the third quarter fell to the lowest level in two years, according to CoreLogic's homeowner equity report.

CleanFund has created a division that helps structure Property Assessed Clean Energy financing to meet a mortgage lender's credit criteria; its also talking to lenders about co-financing the energy upgrades.