National Mortgage News - April 2019

M&A is more than negotiating a price. Lessons from executives with recent experience.

Sluggish growth in originations spurs consolidation. Keep in mind, there's more to M&A than just agreeing on a price.

National Mortgage News is pleased to present the full results of our 2019 Top Producers survey.

As housing starts gradually rise, the proportion of homes getting built outside of metropolitan areas is declining due to fewer jobs there to support them.

The Federal Housing Administration is moving forward with a long-delayed plan to reduce the term of the home warranty required for high loan-to-value mortgages on new houses.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors and 26 other groups warned the agency not to pursue steps reducing the scope of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could upset the mortgage market.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association approved changes to its good delivery guidelines that ease the path to the government-sponsored enterprises issuing uniform mortgage-backed securities starting on June 3.

Agency mortgage-backed security prepayment speeds increased in February with much of the refinance activity coming from newer loans and those with high coupons, a report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said.

Only a fraction of mortgage borrowers return to their servicers to originate or refinance a mortgage loan, and it may be the industry's fault for not exhausting enough effort to keep them around.

Some companies on SourceMedia’s Best Fintechs to Work For list offer their employees extra time off to live boldly.

Borrowers were more than twice as likely to use a lender they found online in 2018 as they were in 2017, making search engines the mortgage industry's top source of referrals.

The root of the credit reporting sector’s problems may be its dominance by a handful of big firms, lawmakers from both parties said at a hearing.

New York regulators rejected Fidelity National Financial's acquisition of Stewart Information Services because the combination would have a dominant share of title insurance in the state.

Ginnie Mae should not overreact in supervising smaller, more diversified mortgage bankers, but rather scale its approach in line with the concentration of risk that different-sized servicers pose.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending April 5.

From the gateway to the West to just below the Mason-Dixon Line, here's a look at the 12 housing markets with the highest percentage of homes affordable to millennial purchasers with median incomes.