Servicing

For the first time in a year foreclosure sales outpaced completed foreclosures--which dropped by 24% at yearend 2011 contributing to a notable decrease in the foreclosure inventory. Yet, the answer to those wondering whether the foreclosure inventory backlog is really easing up appears to be: No.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust earned $19.6 million in the fourth quarter - almost flat compared to 3Q - as it ramped up its correspondent division.

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.

Cashel USA Property Partners plans to purchase up to $500 million in distressed single-family residences in the U.S. to convert into rentals that will be serviced by PropertyAccess, a provider of national property management services for professional investors.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.'s inventory of delinquent loans declined by over 1,200 loans during January, but new notices of default outpaced cured by 3,000 loans.

For the first time in a year foreclosure sales outpaced completed foreclosures--which at yearend 2011 decreased by 24%--contributing to a notable decrease in the foreclosure inventory, according to CoreLogic

A House Financial Services panel on Tuesday approved a bill requiring the Federal Housing Administration to submit a plan to Congress on how it will avoid a bailout of its financially strapped mortgage insurance fund.

Bank of America is out in the marketplace with a roughly $35 billion portfolio of residential mortgage servicing rights through Phoenix Capital, Denver, according to investors and investment bankers who have been briefed on the sale.

With delinquencies continuing to be a problem throughout the country, investment firms continue to take advantage of these current opportunities in buying nonperforming assets from financial institutions.

The greatest fear for small- to medium-sized nonbanks is that Wells Fargo—the "big kahuna" of mortgage finance—will exit the correspondent lending space. And what a fear it is: in the most recent quarter in which there are final numbers, Wells bought a stunning $41 billion of loans from others, giving it a market share of 30% in the channel.