Origination

Other regional Federal Home Loan Banks are lining up so their members can securitize FHA and VA loans through Chicago FHLB conduit.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.85% this week, up from 3.8% last week and the highest since mid-March.

Mortgage origination activity slowed in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, but showed improvement on a year-over-year basis.

Abid Gilani, a Wells Fargo senior vice president, was one of the victims in the derailment of an Amtrak train outside of Philadelphia on Tuesday.

WashingtonFirst Bankshares in Reston, Va., has agreed to buy direct mortgage lender 1st Portfolio Holding Corp. in Fairfax, Va.

With support from Bank of America, a nonprofit lender is trying to revitalize Detroit by offering no-down-payment mortgages at up to 150% of a home's assessed value. The idea is to provide borrowers with enough cash to buy run-down homes and fix them up, and if the program works as promised it could prove to be a template for lending in other cities — like Baltimore — that have large swaths of boarded-up homes.

A reduction in refinancings led to an overall fall in mortgage applications as interest rates rose across the board, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The financial-technology explosion, or bubble, depending on one's viewpoint, continues.

PrimeLending, a subsidiary of PlainsCapital Corp., has created a program aimed at providing closing cost assistance for underserved communities.

ACORE Capital announced Tuesday its formation as a commercial real estate finance and risk management solutions provider.