Redwood Trust said its mortgage banking businesses generated more than $8 billion of aggregate volume in the second quarter, even as geopolitical and interest-rate volatility continued to weigh on housing activity.
The standout was Aspire, where non-QM production reached a record quarter. Aspire produced $2.1 billion of lock volume, up 32% from the first quarter.
Redwood also said Aspire completed its second and third securitization issuances under the Spire shelf and expanded its correspondent network to 140 discrete loan sellers. The company said it has launched proprietary AI-powered engines for non-QM secondary market pricing and guideline comparison and analysis.
Those tools are intended to support a dedicated Aspire joint venture. Redwood said terms and documentation for the venture are fully negotiated with an institutional capital partner, and it expects to begin contributing loans in the third quarter.
On the consolidated side, Redwood estimated a modest 1% to 3% decline in GAAP book value at June 30 from the end of the first quarter. It also said second-quarter economic return on book value is currently estimated between negative 1.0% and positive 1.0%, including its $0.18 per share dividend.
Liquidity remained strong. Redwood said it completed a corporate unsecured senior notes offering in May and ended the quarter with $3.5 billion of excess available asset funding capacity. Following these announcements, the company's shares moved 5.6%, and are now trading at a price of $4.805. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
