Origination

Mortgage applications dropped 27%% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the two weeks ending Jan. 1, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

The more aggressive nonbank lenders are attracting top producers by essentially allowing loan officers to set their own rate of pay. While so-called "pick-a-pay" compensation plans are not illegal, critics say they can encourage loan officers to steer consumers into more expensive loans in order to increase their own pay.

Increased enthusiasm for automated valuations presents an opportunity for the appraisal industry to develop tools that combine high-efficiency, low-cost processes with the accuracy of human expertise.

Home prices across the country rose 6.5% year-over-year in November 2015, including distressed sales, according to CoreLogic.

SharperLending has registered its Appraisal Firewall software product as a lender agent with the Federal Housing Administration.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

Two Harbors is marketing its first residential mortgage securitization of the year, according to Fitch Ratings.

Manhattan home prices surged to a record in the fourth quarter, propelled by closings of luxury deals in new developments that were agreed to years ago, when construction was just starting on many of the buildings.

As the mortgage industry begins the New Year, National Mortgage News takes a look at the biggest trends and topics that will shape 2016.

Tech-enabled shortcuts that borrowers might assume are harmless — or what loan officers, real estate agents and borrowers consider good customer service — may in fact lead to very risky, or even illegal, habits.