Tag Archives: Mortgage-Backed Securities

The stage is set for the private residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market to make a comeback this year, Barclays says in a new research report.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff went back on a previous decision to dismiss most of Dexia's claims against JPMorgan Chase in a $774 million suit. In reversing his decision, Rakoff noted that he didn't have the jurisdiction to grant a dismissal in the first place, citing an appeals court decision in a similar case involving American International Group (AIG) and Bank of America. Dexia filed suit in January 2012, alleging it was fraudulently convinced to purchase more than $1.6 billion of securities that went bad.

Fannie Mae and Dallas-based accounting firm, KPMG agreed to a $153 million settlement with a group of Ohio shareholders last week.

Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., and MBIA Inc. announced a settlement between the two companies related to transactions on securities that flopped during the housing crisis.

Fannie Mae's book of business shrank at a compound annualized rate of 1.5 percent in March, closing the quarter with a negative average monthly rate of 1.7 percent. The book totaled $3.177 trillion as of the end of the first quarter. New business acquisitions totaled $71.4 billion, meanwhile, down from $80.2 billion the previous month and $95.3 billion the year before. The last time new business was this low was in June 2012, when acquisitions totaled $70.6 billion.

Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio grew in March for the first time this year, according to the GSE's monthly volume summary.

Attorneys for Standard & Poor's (S&P) filed Monday a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit from the federal government accusing the ratings agency of inflating ratings and misrepresenting the creditworthiness of certain securities. In their filing, S&P's attorneys argue that the government cannot prove S&P knowingly issued rating opinions it did not believe, dismissing exchanges between employees offered by the plaintiffs as proof of intent to defraud investors.

Commercial real estate (CRE) prices ticked up slightly in February, according to the Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) released by Moody's Analytics and RCA.

A recent industry survey detects rising optimism in the commercial real estate and single-family housing sectors over the next few years. The survey, conducted by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young, finds a consensus among analysts that the real estate market will improve as transaction volumes rise and vacancies decline. "After a prolonged period of uncertainty, we're seeing a revival of investor confidence as the economy continues to recovery," said Dean Schwanke, SVP at the Urban Land Institute.

Fannie Mae issued approximately $8.2 billion of multifamily mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in Q1 2013, according to a company release.