Origination

A recent survey from staffing firm Robert Half International finds many chief financial officers believe their office environment has been successful in their Candace role of stifling worker creativity.

Lenders are relying on technology to help with good-faith estimate compliance, but some loan origination system providers may have been caught off guard when the new GFE rolled out, said an executive with one of the settlement services providers.

The residential mortgage banking division of PNC Financial Services Group reported a $61 million profit for the first quarter, turning around a $61 million loss suffered in 4Q.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Wednesday said it has started a competitive bid process for commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation holdings in the Maiden Lane III LLC portfolio.

Genworth Financial lost 20% of its market value Wednesday afternoon after it revealed accelerating losses at its Australian mortgage insurance affiliate and delayed a spin-off of that division until next year.

If GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has his way HUD will be killed and presumably so will the FHA program. It's election season and the candidate - hoping to appeal to conservatives - wants to stick a knife in HUD/FHA because, well, it's a cabinet level agency and cutting big government is a red meat move.

The U.S. economy is poised for moderate growth in 2012, but unlike prior recessions, the housing sector won't lead the recovery, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was overheard this week saying that if elected he might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the popular FHA program.

New government aid programs for troubled homeowners are forcing cost-cutting lenders, especially banks, into a tricky balancing act.

New mortgage applications rose almost 7% for the week ending April 7 thanks to falling interest rates, which spiked a surge in refinancings, including HARP activity.