Securitization

Issuance of Ginnie Mae securities backed by reverse mortgages rose above $1 billion for the second time in two years, according to the government agency's latest monthly report.

Nonbanks are originating more commercial mortgages on fixer-uppers in response to a sharp drop in the cost of funding in the securitization market. These deals are said to be "vastly different" than other CRE instruments that sustained big losses in the crisis — so far.

First the House and now the Senate have included provisions in their regulatory relief bills that bankers say would go a long way toward clearing up confusion over how to treat high-volatility commercial real estate loans.

Just one year after it got a $1.05 billion loan from a trio of banks (Goldman, BofA and Citi), Blackstone has obtained a new, $1.3 billion loan from two more banks: Barclays and Deutsche.

The security that was incorporated into the index is backed exclusively by loans on green building certified properties; the GSE is still working on acceptance of financing for green upgrades.

A mortgage program created by a 2015 partnership between the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and Ginnie Mae has securitized over $1 billion in government-backed mortgages, the partnership announced.

Commercial banks typically compete with CMBS, but this Delaware state chartered bank is securitizing 30 floating-rate loans secured by 35 apartment complexes, retail and office buildings.

With the exception of the troubled retail sector, delinquency rates across property types supporting commercial mortgage-backed securities were flat to declining in February compared with January.

Essent Guaranty is marketing $360.75 million of notes linked to the performance of a pool of residential mortgages that it insures; its following in the footsteps of Arch Capital.

Over 40% of the collateral is from two 2016-vintage transactions that were recently "collapsed" because proceeds from liquidations had slowed. Then there's the exposure to Puerto Rico.

Tight margins, regulatory clarity and a renewed appetite to expand have made mortgage brokers and the wholesale channel attractive again, at least to the small and medium mortgage lenders.

The success of the government-sponsored enterprises' credit risk transfer programs shows that they can be the basis for housing finance reform.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group has agreed to pay $500 million to the state of New York after a $5.5B agreement last year with the FHA, and another probe is pending.

Commercial and multifamily fourth-quarter mortgage delinquency rates improved for most investor types compared to one year prior as the U.S. economy continued its recovery.

The $446 million Pearl Street Mortgage Company 2018-1 Trust is backed by 30-year, fixed-rate loans with credit characteristics in line with recent private-label prime jumbo transactions rated by Fitch Ratings.

Growing competition may prompt commercial mortgage-backed securities issuers to accept higher loan-to-value ratios in their deals.

LendingClub, Marlette and others are looking at additional changes to both their securitization and whole-loan-sale programs that could further broaden their investor bases.

Participants at the Structured Finance Industry Group conference in Las Vegas say that future deals could be linked to the performance of jumbo, as well as conforming loans.

Credit unions favor housing finance reforms that would keep the government-sponsored enterprises or something similar in place, but add an explicit government guarantee to their mortgage-backed securities, according to a recent survey.

Financial services groups are calling for more funding for the Internal Revenue Service that could fix flaws in the agency's system for verifying the income of mortgage applicants.