Reverse mortgage-backed security issuance improved last month when compared to April, according to New View Advisors’ latest commentary article.
The firm says that HMBS issuance was $526m in May versus $503m in April, an uptick of $23m. The number of pools issued was down slightly, however, from 89 in April to 86 in May.
The 86 pools issued in May consisted of 22 first-participation or original pools, 63 tail pools, and one pool which included both new production and tails. Original pools are those HMBS pools backed by first participations in previously uncertificated HECM loans.
“Notable in the May HMBS issuance data are 22 pools with aggregate pool size less than $1 million,” says New View’s article.
The article continues: “Issuers are taking advantage of Ginnie Mae’s provision to issue pools as small as $250,000. This represents $11.4 million of UPB that may not otherwise have been issued in May. Ginnie Mae issued APM 23-11 in September which allows participations from the same loan to be pooled more than once in the same month. The aggregate of participations pooled in May for which more than one participation from the same loan was pooled is $53 million, of which $3 million were first participations.”
New View says that total issuance through May runs to some $2.4bn – $236 million lower than at this time last year and $4.8bn lower than at this time in 2022.
