Mortgages

The Biden administration could encourage the FHFA to increase the caps or restore exclusions for certain types of loans, which would boost overall volumes.

Declining month-over-month delinquency levels and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations potentially give hope to more normalized economic activity.

Mortgage applications decreased 1.9% from one week earlier as rising rates started to affect refinance activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The government-sponsored enterprises’ moratoria will now continue well past inauguration day, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Upcoming changes to underwriting regulations, as well as the end of the QM patch, in addition to growing home values, all add up for this market to have a good year.

Despite mortgage rates expected to rise modestly in 2021, a bolstered Biden administration stimulus package and COVID-19 vaccination efforts bring promise for economic recovery.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Jan.7-14

While the annual total marks a 16-year low, the numbers are likely to change dramatically once government moratoria expire, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Mortgage rates, whose movements until now had not reflected gains in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, rose 14 basis points this week, according to Freddie Mac.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.

The volume of Ginnie securities issued in December marked the first time more than $80 billion has been issued in a month.

Fitch and Trepp reported that overall commercial mortgage-backed security delinquencies were down, while the MBA reported a slight increase.

The agency that supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has pushed for revising an agreement with the Treasury Department allowing the mortgage giants to retain their profits. A deal could be out of reach once Joe Biden takes office.

The transaction features a pool of non-qualified mortgages with a higher-than-average delinquency rate driven by COVID-19 relief plans.

The Swiss banking giant is expected to set aside $850 million for litigation costs stemming from a long-running dispute with bond issuer over the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

When the Uniform Residential Loan Application transition deadline hits on March 1, a data set within Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter Program, which many lenders have used for a host of functions, will no longer be supported and unprepared lenders could later experience disruption.

The regulator's demands for ending the action were excessive, Ocwen claimed.

With limited plan removals due to the holidays, mortgages in coronavirus-related forbearance rose by 15,000, according to Black Knight.

A real estate firm focused on gentrifying neighborhoods is showing cracks after a group of its apartment buildings in New York’s Upper West Side and Harlem filed for bankruptcy.

The former property-assessed clean energy program administrator plans to sell off assets via Chapter 11, but PACE securitizations through its bankruptcy-remote trusts will continue to be backed by homeowner ad valorem assessments.