Origination

The trend toward fewer loans becoming delinquent appears to have halted momentarily, according to the latest mortgage monitor report released by Lender Processing Services.

People constantly ask me whether flexible or variable pricing violates fair lending laws. Before addressing this question, it is important to remember that fair lending claims ask whether differences exist in the pricing minorities receive as compared to non-minorities to a sufficient degree that these differences cannot be explained by randomness?

National Association of Mortgage Brokers president Don Frommeyer weighed in on what he feels are inordinate disclosure requirements loan brokers face during a recent discussion at the group's NAMB/West Show in Las Vegas.

Strong refinancing activity spurred mortgage companies to add new loan officers and processors to their payrolls in November for the second consecutive month.

If all the mortgage industry economists are correct (and let's face it, their track record over the past few years is not good) 2012 is expected to have fewer loan origination opportunities than 2011. So any source of sales advice can be seen as a helping hand.

PHH Corp., which this week ousted its CEO amid perceived liquidity concerns, may start selling some of its huge holdings of mortgage servicing rights, according to industry analysts.

The mailbag for the week between Christmas and New Year's was, as you might expect, pretty light. Both messages I received were about the same story, which claimed that four of ten home sales in 2011 were cash-only deals, no mortgage. Our two correspondents questioned the particulars of that story.

Mortgage bankers funded $26.6 billion of jumbo loans during the third quarter, a handsome 30% gain from the same period a year earlier, according to new survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

The 30 days-plus delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS climbed seven basis points to 9.58% in December, according to Trepp LLC.

The average primary market rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped four basis points during the week ending Jan. 5, returning to its record low of 3.91%.