RMBS

Even though third-party due diligence has always been performed on whole loans, the providers of these services have more skin-in-the-game now that rating agencies have very stringent requirements.

Market Vectors Mortgage REIT Income ETF, a rules-based index intended to track the overall performance of publicly traded mortgage REITs, has risen by more than 10% year-to-date, according to a report published by Five Star Equities.

Fitch Ratings today lowered Saxon Mortgage Services' residential servicer ratings.

The potential sale of the Maiden Lane III (ML III) assets might signal that the Federal Reserve is making its move to take liquidity out of the system, securitization experts said today.

Freddie Mac reported a slight easing in fixed-related mortgage rates in the week ending April 5. The 30-year rates averaged 3.98%, down one basis point from last week; 15-year rates slipped to 3.21% from 3.23%, while 5/1 hybrid ARMs were at 2.86% from 2.90%.

If the new RMBS deals issued in the past week give an indication of what the non-agency market space will look like, then it is clear that only the best will do.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) hearing panel has ruled that David Lerner Associates (DLA) charged excessive markups on CMO and municipal bond deals during a two-year period.

Non-agency MBS investors should look for bonds with smaller loan sizes in a structure that is levered to severity, said Amherst Securities Group analysts in a report today.

Since the housing crisis began in 2007, mortgage rates have currently dropped to all-time lows and home prices continue to bottom out in most markets. The big question still lingers on the mind of everyone in the industry: Are we on the road to a recovery or are there still gloomy days ahead?

Prices of homes sold by owner/occupants are rising for the first time in years and there has been modest price appreciation in January and February, according to a new CoreLogic report.