Subprime “Alt”-Mortgages from Nonbanks, Run by former Countrywide Execs, Backed by PE Firms Are Hot

[marmar]

Subprime “Alt”-Mortgages from Nonbanks, Run by former Countrywide Execs, Backed by PE Firms Are Hot Again
by Wolf Richter • December 1, 2015


[font color="blue"]Housing Bubble 2 comes full circle[/font]

Mortgage delinquency rates are low as long as home prices are soaring since you can always sell the home and pay off the mortgage, or most of it, and losses for lenders are minimal. Nonbank lenders with complicated corporate structures backed by a mix of PE firms, hedge funds, debt, and IPO monies revel in it. Regulators close their eyes because no one loses money when home prices are soaring. The Fed talks about having “healed” the housing market. And the whole industry is happy.

The show is run by some experienced hands: former executives from Countrywide Financial, which exploded during the Financial Crisis and left behind one of the biggest craters related to mortgages and mortgage backed securities ever. Only this time, they’re even bigger.

PennyMac is the nation’s sixth largest mortgage lender and largest nonbank mortgage lender. Others in that elite club include AmeriHome Mortgage, Stearns Lending, and Impac Mortgage. The LA Times:

All are headquartered in Southern California, the epicenter of the last decade’s subprime lending industry. And all are run by former executives of Countrywide Financial, the once-giant mortgage lender that made tens of billions of dollars in risky loans that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

During their heyday in 2005, nonbank lenders, often targeting subprime borrowers, originated 31% of all home mortgages. Then it blew up. From 2009 through 2011, nonbank lenders originated about 10% of all mortgages. But then PE firms stormed into the housing market. In 2012, nonbank lenders originated over 20% of all mortgages, in 2013 nearly 30%, in 2014 about 42%. And it will likely be even higher this year. ...............(more)

http://wolfstreet.com/2015/12/01/subprime-alt-mortgages-from-nonbanks-run-by-former-countrywide-execs-backed-by-pe-firms-are-hot-again/

[LiberalArkie]

1. I think the subprime auto loans are going to trigger the thing this time.