Mortgages

Self-employed borrowers account for 40.9% of the pool, but they are high earners and the pool has moderate leverage.

Chase Home Lending announced a limited-time rate sale, while Citizens Bank and Bank of America are focused on building up affordability programs.

Non-qualified mortgages account for 23.1% of the series 2026-7 pool, by balance, and 43.4% of the loans in the pool were made to investors for business purposes and are exempt from the Ability-to-Repay rules.

At the end of the draw term, HELOC borrowers have a repayment period ranging from 10 to 30 years, and customers cannot draw on the HELOCs during the repayment period.

Almost all five A1 tranches benefit from credit enhancement levels of 26.10%. The A1A tranche, however, has a credit enhancement level of 36.10%.

The release of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's internal metrics support this process, but other measures will still be needed, according to Bank of America.

Given current rates are higher than the MBA and Fannie Mae forecasts, the industry could see further downside risk to the housing outlooks in October.

With 55% of homeowners planning to renovate rather than relocate, demand for home improvement capital will be strong even if the purchase market slows further.

Last week's bond market turmoil continued leading up to the FOMC decision on Wednesday, pushing the 30-year fixed to near or over 7%, depending on the source.

The market initially showed relief after the initial confirmation of an anticipated inflation-fighting hike but discussion of a future raise renewed concern.

More depositories are getting involved in the securitized market and the competition is likely to add to expense management challenges of smaller balance loans.

Bank of America upped its forecast for non-qualified mortgage issuance, with investors, particularly insurers, buying these and other non-agency securities.

Rocket jumps first to raise 2027 conforming loan limits to $845,000, with Rate and CrossCountry matching; UWM's move still pending marking an early signal of IMB competitive positioning.

Atlas VMS acquired CloseClear.ai to help lenders prevent post-appraisal GSE buybacks. The tech continuously matches active pipelines against live disaster maps to plug closing blind spots.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has barred 51 people from working with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this year, the most suspensions in any calendar year.

The big three's trade group has said they operate legally and protect the industry with a trio of reports. FHFA also is opening up VantageScore for all lenders.

Merging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not be possible but there is a variation that maintains competition and adds efficiency, according to one shareholder.

Most of the A1 tranches, are expected to pay a coupon of 5.83%, except for the A-1 last-cash flow tranche, which is expected to pay 5.93%.

Bank of America Securities research shows this sector has had its best year since at least 2017, but some trends in the market point to a need for caution.

If Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's comments lack substance on inflation in the market's opinion, it is likely to drive mortgage rates even higher, NerdWallet warned.