S&P Raises Loss Estimates for Loans Backing Mortgage Securities

More bad news on the outlook of the troubled housing market. S&P has increased its loss estimates for Alt-A and subprime residential MBS.

From Reuters:

Standard & Poor’s on Monday boosted its expectations for losses on risky loans backing U.S. mortgage securities to as much as 40 percent… suggesting [this will] “significantly impact” bonds originally carrying AAA ratings, S&P said in a report.
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S&P boosted loss projections for subprime loans made at the peak of the market in 2006 and 2007 to 32 percent and 40 percent from 25 percent and 31 percent, respectively. For 2005 loans, loss projections rose to 14 percent from 10.5 percent.

For Alt-A loans … loss projections for 2006 and 2007 mortgages rose to 22.5 percent and 27 percent from 17.3 percent and 21 percent, respectively. S&P expects Alt-A loans from 2005 to post losses of 10 percent, up from its previous estimate of 7.75 percent.

Loss severities…are expected to rise to 70 percent for 2006 and 2007 subprime bonds and 60 percent for Alt-A bonds issued in those years, S&P added.
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“We have observed increases in loss severities and we expect them to continue to rise until we reach the trough of the market value decline, which we believe will be in the first half of 2010,” S&P said in the report.