Origination

Several large and regional banks have disclosed what their capital ratios would look like if Basel III were in effect now and early results show that First Horizon National, Huntington Bancshares, SunTrust Banks and TCF Financial would take the biggest capital hits if they do not take steps to change their asset mix.

We’ve been hearing complaints lately from loan brokers that some of their wholesalers have been telling them to “take a number” and wait if they bring a purchase-money mortgage to the underwriting window.

The Census Bureau reported that 1.6 homes vacant homes were listed for sale as of June 30, down 3% from the first quarter and 18.6% from a year ago.

Franklin American Mortgage Co. told its loan brokers that beginning Aug. 1 the firm will only compensate them using the “lender paid” model.

Banks frequently respond to questions from loan officers complaining that a local competitor has a more "aggressive" compensation plan.

As originally designed, the Fed’s compensation rule tried to ensure that loan officers didn’t have any monetary incentives to steer borrowers into high-cost loans.

Freddie Mac purchased $44.1 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in June, the GSE’s best acquisition month of the year and a sign that loan production is strong.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, a fast-growing buyer of mortgages from correspondents—including jumbos—recently inked a deal to receive a $100 million repo line from Barclays Bank PLC.

With the addition of four new towers announced this week—two in South Beach and two others in downtown Miami—more than 8,600 condo residences have now been proposed for the tri-county South Florida region.

Home sales may be flagging a bit, but prices are rising and have been each and every month since January.