RMBS

Barclays Capital has a cautious outlook for both residential and commercial mortgage credit, its researchers indicated in their global outlook report Thursday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) data showed that private-label RMBS trading activity has dropped about 50% since June.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), in a new comment letter, strongly urged the government not to change the current GSE servicing compensation model, shooting down a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) proposal that would pay loan processors $10 per month for performing loans.

The trend of U.S. credit cardholders putting credit card payments ahead of mortgage payments that began in early 2008 shows no sign of abating in the immediate future even as the economy gradually improves, TransUnion analysts said.

A broad range of institutional investors — including pension funds, insurance firms, and sovereign wealth funds — is set to increase their exposure to real estate as an asset class, according to new research from State Street Corp.

Wells Fargo & Co. – as the industry is quite aware – is a dominant force in both residential production and servicing, but it continues to tower above all competitors in the GNMA market.

After rating the performance of its top 10 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) servicers, the U.S. Treasury Department said JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America need to make further improvements before they receive incentive payments from the government.

Federal regulators took another step Wednesday toward lessening banks' reliance on credit ratings by proposing three methods for assessing risk on firms' trading books.

U.S. structured finance is expected to be stable from a credit and ratings standpoint, although macro uncertainties can test collateral performance for some asset classes, Fitch Ratings said in its 2012 outlook report.

The illiquidity of the new-issue, private-label RMBS market is a significant reason for the difficult economic and housing situation confronting the U.S. today, according to CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming.