As home prices rise, though, the opportunity grows in the jumbo market. Sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million were up 41 percent in April from a year ago, while sales of homes priced below $100,000 were down nearly 10 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.
“People who weren’t sure about whether they were going to buy a house or not are coming back in, and that’s especially true of the affluent buyers,” said Watters. “I know at Chase at least we’ve also put a lot of emphasis on making sure we’re doing what’s best for those affluent buyers, including adding more bankers and working with our chase private client customers to really focus on opportunities in the jumbo space.”
(Read More: Rising Rates Turn Investors From REITs)
Watters admited that investors are still slow to return, as the private label market tries to figure out what securitization standards should be. The complete lack of standards during the housing boom, when securities were issued with bits and pieces of loans and wide ranges of risk, led to the downfall of both the mortgage and the housing markets.
“We are not slicing and dicing any loans. We’re selling loans as whole loan products,” assured Watters. “These are well-underwritten loans, great documentation, great borrowers with strong fico scores, large down payments, so these are great credit products, great investment for people who are looking to get additional yield.”
—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick or on Facebook at facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC
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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100802833