Servicing

House prices rose 0.5% in May following a 0.9% jump in April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index, which has posted price increases over the past four consecutive months.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association wants an explicit guarantee and preservation of the to-be-announced MBS market as part of any restructuring of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The record low average 30-year mortgage rate seen this week may not be sustained, but current economic and market conditions point to 30-year rates below 5% "for some time," according to a new Freddie Mac forecast.

Old Republic International Corp., Chicago, posted a net profit of $57 million in the second quarter, a major improvement from the same period last year, and another sign that the beleaguered MI industry may be on the road to recovery.

Chalke, president of Mortgage Harmony Corp., has written an op-ed about the "disposable" nature of today's mortgages and why he thinks loans need to be more "durable."

Something's not quite right in the mortgage business. I'm not talking about the obvious relaxation of underwriting standards in recent years (now corrected a bit too much), but something deeper-something fundamental to the business itself. During the past 20 years, the residential mortgage has become disposable. The consumer keeps a product only as long as it remains fashionable and rates don't move too much. Should product trends change or rates move, borrowers toss their mortgage aside like an old suit and obtain a new one. We all know this, but the fundamental issue continues to fester.

Kislak Mortgage is re-entering the residential mortgage origination business with up to 10 store-front offices in Florida, one of the most troubled housing markets in the U.S.

Mortgage fraud, recognized as an impediment to lender-servicer efforts to maximize portfolio recovery, is on the rise and expected to get worse, especially in property valuations.

Many housing markets could see a stronger recovery two years from now, even though the latest forecast for the coming year shows only modest ones, according to one forecast.

With the stock market getting pounded on Wednesday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.89%, a level not seen in more than a year.