RMBS

If government support of the mortgage market is reduced – either gradually or immediately – and the private sector doesn't fill the void with investment capital, it could have dire consequences for housing and residential finance, according to a new analysis released by Redwood Trust.

Last week's Chapter 11 filing by Ambac Assurance, which provides insurance on billions of dollars of MBS held by corporate credit unions (CUs), is likely to add to the price tag of the federal bailout of these wholesale institutions.

Investors are starting to receive additional details on the loan types — including information on Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Savers and FHA modified loans — that issuers are placing in Ginnie Mae-guaranteed MBS.

All four federal bank regulatory agencies are conducting targeted exams of foreclosure practices and policies involving on-site examinations and the sampling of loan files at depositories that control a large portion of the nation's $9.9 trillion in housing receivables.

With securitization's future paved with uncertainty, coming up with an estimate of what RMBS volumes will amount to depends on a number of variables.

Equifax will be linking its ABS Credit Risk Insight Direct to Lewtan's ABSNet Loan comprehensive database of residential deal and mortgage performance data.

Historically low mortgage rates are a crucial component of record affordability for home buyers, but lack of confidence in the market and fear of further price declines are challenges that are outweighing that factor, Credit Suisse analysts wrote Wednesday.

As the biggest player in a field of servicing giants, Bank of America Corp. is absorbing the greatest amount of mortgage buyback pain, but some of its problems seem magnified even compared with its size.

Fannie Mae Chief Financial Officer David Johnson plans to leave the company by yearend, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

American Home Mortgage Servicing (AHMS) late Tuesday announced that it had hired GMAC Mortgage veteran David Applegate as its new president and CEO.