Real estate ABS investors' choosiness widens spreads

The cacophony surrounding the subprime market's recent volatility is beginning to quiet down.

Thirty-day delinquencies among subprime mortgages originated in 2006 leveled off recently. Although most analysts say that development is a temporary respite from ongoing poor performance in the 2006 vintage, others assert that the market is on the verge of improving, and perhaps significantly. That makes way for investors' voices to be heard loud and clear, a welcome market development.