Subprime performance improved for the second consecutive month, while delinquency on Alternative-A residential mortgage-backed securities improved for the first time in four years. But securitized jumbo loans didn’t follow suit. The nonprime improvement, however, could be offset by re-defaults on loan modifications.
Delinquency of at least 60 days on subprime loans was 45.2 percent in April, Fitch Ratings reported today. The level of late payments improved for the second consecutive month from 46.3 percent in March. A year earlier, though, delinquency was 40.1 percent.
Late payments on Alt-A RMBS loans were 34.1 percent, falling for the first time since April 2006 from 34.4 percent in March. In April 2009, Alt-A delinquency was lower at 27.4 percent.
More than half of all securitized Alt-A loans outstanding are backed by California or Florida properties.
Fitch Managing Director Vincent Barberio noted in the announcement that last month’s improvement could “be a signal that RMBS performance is beginning to the turn the corner.”
Fitch attributed the nonprime improvement to better cure rates and an increase in the number of loan modifications, “along with improvements in both liquidation and roll rates.” But the ratings agency warned that 8 percent of current Alt-A loans and 35 percent of current subprime loans have been modified and face a substantial risk of re-default.
The performance of prime jumbo RMBS deteriorated, however, from March.
Jumbo delinquency climbed to 10.2 percent in April from the previous month’s 10.1 percent and April 2009’s 5.4 percent. The performance of jumbo mortgages in California and Florida was a big factor in the overall increase.
