SitusAMC [1], a New York-based real estate advisory firm, has hired more than 1,500 employees to boost support capacity for both originations and secondary market due diligence. The expansion is expected to expedite the flow of loans into private-label securitizations.
Mortgage production skyrocketed in 2020. According to the MBA report, $4.3 trillion in mortgages were originated in 2020, including $1.5 trillion in purchase loans—the biggest volume since 2005—and $2.8 trillion in refinances, an all-time high. Freddie Mac [2] estimates that loan production volumes will remain elevated throughout 2021 with an estimated $3.9 trillion in total production. This boom has resulted in industrywide shortages in due diligence capacity, especially in the secondary market where billions of dollars in private-label mortgage portfolios heading for securitization are awaiting review, with months-long wait times in some cases.
Through its hiring of experienced industry talent, the company is beefing up its capacity to meet the high market demand for its services. "Our increased capacity is now poised to enable a broader pool of market participants to leverage SitusAMC's solutions, including the review of mortgage portfolios for rated securitization transactions or for acquisition of loans into investment portfolios," said Tom Britt, Executive Managing Director and Head of Residential Real Estate for SitusAMC.
The company's additional capacity will primarily be available to clients in the form of dedicated capacity teams, custom built to support client-specific needs, while also providing service to their sellers and internal stakeholders. However, given market demand, SitusAMC's increased review capacity will also support "transactional" assignments, allowing clients to "flex up" capacity needs and providing them the ability to execute on short-duration assignments.