Origination

Prices of condominiums are starting to play catch up with single-family homes.

First-time homebuyers, usually between 18 and 34 years old, prefer mortgage shopping through the web, to getting in their cars and driving to their banks to shop for a mortgage.

The new version of Ellie Mae's Encompass360 application includes over 200 new features, the Pleasanton, Calif.-based mortgage-software company said.

The Census Bureau reported that single family starts rose to a 599,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in May from a 597,000 rate in April.

There have been five days of triple digit moves in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Monday's market improvement included 13 Mortgage Industry Equity Composite Stocks.

When compared with May 2012, prices in California increased 32%, going to $417,350 from $316,460.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have streamlined their refinancing requirements under the direction of the GSE regulator, but little has been done to ease restrictions on purchase mortgages.

Where industry credit limits stand and why was among the topics discussed by a group of industry executives convened by Origination News at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York.

The recent rise in home prices has a number of observers concerned, and a Mortgage Grapevine post refers to recent article in a Denver newspaper on that topic.

Deutsche Bank AG arranged a $1.5 billion credit line for Blackstone Group LP to buy single-family properties last week, after providing $2.1 billion to the firm earlier this year.