Mark Fogarty

Looking at the continuing foreclosure crisis, with a couple of million resolutions done, a couple million more to do, and more than a million units of shadow inventory waiting in the wings, one is reminded of Winston Churchill's pronouncement during World War II that while it might not yet be the beginning of the end, at least it is the end of the beginning.

One of the easiest ways to get my attention is to follow me on Twitter and shoot me a message. I'm @mortgagenewz.

Mortgage industry and government officials may not want to hear this, but the resumption of a non-conforming mortgage market is a key factor in the normalizing of housing finance, and, by extension, the national economy.

I occasionally get invitations to speak at mortgage industry events (in addition to chairing our own SourceMedia conferences). My reaction is always bifurcated. On the one hand I'm always flattered people think my outlook on the business is worth listening to. On the other hand I'm always worried I will say something exquisitely stupid.

There's been a decided shift in theme statements in the mortgage business over the past five years. The old mortgage mantra of "the American Dream of Homeownership" has experienced an abrupt downshift to a new one: "Not everyone should be a homeowner."

The alarm over regulation continues to paralyze the mortgage business. That's what attendees of the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers in Atlantic City, N.J., heard from David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Feeling hungry for news about the servicing market? Then join me for a free breakfast at the Mortgage Servicing Conference!

The struggling housing market needs to look to every possible financing source. So, how are housing bonds doing? According to our sister publication, The Bond Buyer, housing bonds were off last year. But in a small victory, they were not off as much as the entire market.

If it's springtime it's time for one of the things I anticipate the most in the mortgage calendar.

The struggling housing market needs to look to every possible financing source. So, how are housing bonds doing? According to our sister publication, The Bond Buyer, housing bonds were off last year. But in a small victory, they were not off as much as the entire market.

American Indian housing assistance is perennially underfunded, a trend continued in the Administration's fiscal 2013 budget request. $1 billion would be a good starting point, instead of the current $650 million.

What will be the story of this decade in the mortgage industry? It will be the return of the market to normalcy (or a new normal). The question is: when?

How anxious are residential lenders and servicers about the new levels of regulation and compliance they are being subjected to? The answer is: plenty nervous.

The commercial mortgage market didn't get as much press, but it went into the tank shortly after the residential market did. However, if projections by the Mortgage Bankers Association turn out to be right, it is recovering steeply in that V shape that has so far eluded the residential side.

The biggest issue facing the mortgage business this year is regulation. Nobody likes it. Most people would see some as inevitable. What would be too much?

The Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention was set for Orlando in 2005. So far, so good. I'd been to a million meetings in Orlando, and here was one more. The trouble was, Florida was also set for a visit at the same time by a monster hurricane named Wilma.

The long-running negotiations on a settlement between large mortgage servicers and the state attorneys general have been dragging on too long.

Fannie Mae's latest housing forecast is in, and it predicts a stagnant mortgage market for the next two years, at about $1 trillion in originations for each of 2012 and 2013. Not what industry officials want to hear, especially after five rocky years starting in 2007.

The mortgage industry has taken one for the team in the way the payroll tax reduction extension has been funded, at least partially, by an increase in government housing agency guarantee fees. But in my view, once is more than enough.

The mailbag for the week between Christmas and New Year's was, as you might expect, pretty light. Both messages I received were about the same story, which claimed that four of ten home sales in 2011 were cash-only deals, no mortgage. Our two correspondents questioned the particulars of that story.