Interest rates

Lenders also increased jumbo product availability as well as rolling out new SOFR-indexed ARMs.

The statement comes after multiple small and midsize institutions earlier this year warned the agencies that the secured overnight financing rate was ill-suited to them.

Four tranches of AAA-rated notes in the $342.2 million JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2020-8 may utilize a term-SOFR rate should the benchmark improve on the weighted-average coupon of the deal.

While using the 30-day SOFR as its index, Freddie Mac structured the deal so it could shift to a one-month term if and when that rate is approved.

Defaults have been milder than expected thanks to government relief and stricter underwriting. But with the crisis dragging on and policymakers unable to agree on a stimulus plan, loans to highly indebted companies remain at risk.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

A New York-state proposal to shift trillions of dollars in securities contracts from Libor- to SOFR-based benchmarks is gathering dust. That worries bankers and investors on on how to proceed with the next steps toward a replacement rate as Libor's post-2021 expiration grows nearer.

The restrictions on the pooling of loans with any interest term based on Libor will be effective for traditional mortgage-backed securities issued starting Jan. 21, 2021, and earlier for reverse-mortgage securitizations.

Bondholders could see principal losses if, due to the way the documents are worded, the rate is frozen at the last published amount.

The central bank said it would keep interest rates at current levels through at least to help the U.S. economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.