RMBS

Citigroup will no longer purchase "medium or high-risk" loans that could result in buyback requests from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, in the bank's latest effort to improve the quality of mortgages it buys from correspondent lenders, according to an internal memo obtained by ASR sister publication American Banker.

President Obama's State of the Union address included a section on refinancing initiatives that will strike a chord with mortgage investors, a Barclays Capital report said.

With both refinancing and purchase activity lower, mortgage application activity declined 5.0% in the week ending Jan. 20.

Dutch mortgage originator Obvion yesterday announced the first Dutch RMBS of the year, Storm 2012-I.

It would cost Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac almost $100 billion to write down the principal on the underwater loans they control to current market values, according to a new estimate released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The state attorney general leading settlement talks with the country's top mortgage servicers batted down speculation Monday that a deal had been reached.

With the whole market still unsure of when home prices will hit rock bottom, investors remain wary of the private-label RMBS market.

Although there are channels of liquidity in the securitization market such as autos and CLOs, areas of dislocation remain because of regulatory uncertainty, according to panelists at ASF 2012 being held in Las Vegas this week.

A regulatory proposal to require a minimum downpayment of 20% on 'qualified residential mortgages' will make it more expensive for first-time homebuyers to obtain private mortgages, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

DataQuick, a provider of real estate information solutions, today released RiskFinder Distress at ASF 2012.