The tide has turned in the RMBS market

There was further evidence yesterday that margins have widened in the residential mortgage-backed securities market, when Citigroup completed a A$1.13 billion transaction.

Citi upsized the issue, Securitised Australian Mortgage Trust 2014-1, from $500 million at its launch on Monday.

Pricing on the $1.04 of A notes, which have a weighted average life of 2.7 years, was 78 basis points over the one-month bank bill swap rate.

The tightest margin paid by an issuer this year was 70 bps on the top tranche of Commonwealth Bank's $4 billion issue in August.

A month earlier, ME Bank had priced the top tranche of its $1.4 billion issue at 75 bps over the swap rate.

Among more recent issues, Wide Bay Australia paid 100 bps over the swap rate on the top tranche of an issue late last month and Firstmac paid a margin of 90 bps on the top tranche of an issue in September.

A similar trend is evident in the non-conforming segment of the market, with a Bluestone issue late last month priced at a wider margin than earlier non-conforming deals.

Citi did not disclose the pricing on the AB and B notes of its issue, which was its first since 2011.