From Zach Fox at SNL Financial: Credit Suisse: $1 trillion worth of ARMs still face resets

Most of the resets are expected to occur through 2012. Between 2010 and 2012, the chart indicates that $253.25 billion of option ARMs will adjust, while Alt-A loans totaling $163.71 billion will reset over that time. Altogether, $1.010 trillion worth of ARMs will reset or recast during the three-year period.

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"Option ARM resets are still pending. … Nothing much has happened yet because rates were so low that resets were pushed back," Chandrajit Bhattacharya, head of non-agency RMBS and ABS strategy at Credit Suisse, told SNL.

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[Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com] was cool to the idea that option ARMs could flood the foreclosure rolls. Option ARMs are less concerning, he said, because so many have defaulted already. Indeed, the September 2009 Fitch Ratings report showed that 30-day delinquencies on option ARMs sat at 46% even though just 12% had recast. Further, option ARM foreclosure rates already match the sky-high subprime foreclosure rates.



Instead, McBride is worried about the prime ARMs posted in the Credit Suisse chart [if interest rates rise - see article for discussion].

excerpts with permission

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

It is a little confusing. You can't just look at a chart of coming recasts and know when borrowers will default. The real problem for Option ARMs is negative equity, and the surge in defaults is happening before the loans recast.



But the recasts will matter too, since many of these borrowers used these mortgages as "affordability products", and bought the most expensive homes they could "afford" (based on monthly payments only). When the recasts arrive, these borrowers will have few options.

Source: SNL Financial.This graph shows the amount of ARMs resetting and recasting over the next few year. Resets are not a huge worry right now - because interest rates are so low - but if interest rates rise, this could lead to more defaults in the future.Recasts - when the loans reamortize - are a concern, although it is unclear how large the payment shock will be. For borrowers with negative equity, any payment shock might be lead to default. As I wrote last year in A comment on Option ARMs