Harry Terris

The long-anticipated collapse in mortgage applications, finally a reality, stands to take a bite out of bank earnings in the second quarter and beyond.

The long-anticipated collapse in mortgage applications stands to take a bite out of bank earnings in the second quarter and beyond.

The fees Fannie and Freddie charge to cover credit risk on mortgages have been surging. Large segments of the market may soon be fair game for securitization without federal backing.

Margin compression once again overpowered loan growth in the first quarter, sapping banks’ traditional source of revenue.

Home equity lending remains miles away from returning to growth mode.

Overall, guarantee fees are as high now as they have been at any point during roughly the last decade, partly reflecting price increases that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac implemented in early 2008 as the housing market collapsed.

Mortgage rates spiked briefly as the first quarter came to a close, raising the prospect that a rebound in refinancings originating in the fourth quarter would peter out.

The massive expansion in postcrisis regulation has drawn loud protests from many bankers, but it is difficult to discern from their financial statements any explosion in compliance costs.

Rock-bottom home loan rates persisted through the first quarter, goosing origination volume and setting banks up to post another round of strong mortgage banking results.

Wells Fargo's origination business has been operating at full steam, keeping the company’s mortgage servicing assets well above a cap proposed under Basel III. A new servicer compensation system could resolve the issue, but something has to give.

With Bank of America methodically dismantling the Countrywide home loan machine, someone else is going to have to service all the loans it used to buy. Who'll it be?

Business abandoned by some the nation's largest mortgage lenders as they have shuttered major production channels, or closed shop entirely, has mostly landed at other mortgage giants.

A bullish thesis on construction activity has taken hold among investors who have bid up the shares of major home builders by as much as 80% in the last six months.