Origination

The housing sector is poised to be the main anchor for economic growth this year and in the future, Fannie Mae said in its January 2013 outlook.

Over eight in 10 respondents to a survey of potential home sellers taken by Redfin last week believe home prices will rise in the next 12 months.

Cole Taylor Mortgage had nearly $2 billion of mortgage originations in the fourth quarter, up 41% from the third quarter.

Austin is the topic of a post on the Mortgage Grapevine, which shares data from the local Realtor organization about how hot the market is.

Astoria Financial Corp. had 4Q12 profits of $17 million, helped by a nearly $4 million after-tax gain from the sale of its Freddie Mac preferred stock.

Flagstar Bancorp reported a $66.8 million profit for the fourth quarter, compared to a $78.2 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The industry's positive reaction to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau qualified mortgage rule, which governs mortgage underwriting, is prompting cautious optimism that a related securitization rule may also turn out better than expected.

Old Republic International Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $24 million and full-year loss of $69 million.

First Financial Network reached a five-year agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to value, market and sell assets held in FDIC receiverships.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in Freddie Mac’s weekly survey climbed by four basis points to 3.42%.