Origination

BBVA Compass, a commercial bank based in Birmingham, Ala., will be opening a new mortgage back office processing operations center in Tempe, Ariz., and will hire up to 100 people to staff it.

October was the second best month of the year for the private mortgage insurers in terms of applications received, but the third worst in terms of the cure/default ratio, according to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

Eastern Mortgage Capital, Boston, has issued a $5.1 million mortgage loan for a 117-unit affordable elderly housing facility in St. Louis.

The annual retirement survey conducted by Wells Fargo & Co. found that 76% of middle class Americans said it is important to have a specific amount of money saved before retirement, while only 20% said it was more important to retire at a specific age, regardless of savings.

Application volume fell by 11.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Nov. 25, with the data adjusted to take into account Thanksgiving, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In a worst case scenario investors in bonds issued by The PMI Group could lose upwards of $737 million because the notes are considered "unsecured" according to court papers issued in the mortgage insurer's bankruptcy filing.

Congress has opened the door for FHA lenders to originate jumbo loans of up to $729,750 without being crowded out of the market by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac products.

Radian Guaranty is seeking waivers in 12 states of risk-to-capital requirements, even though it does have $600 million in capital at the parent company level available to downstream to the mortgage insurer, chief financial officer Bob Quint said during a presentation at the FBR Capital Markets Fall Investor Conference.

Guggenheim Partners affiliate Pillar Multifamily LLC has agreed to buy Fannie Mae eligible loans sourced by Tremont Realty Capital LLC under a correspondent agreement between the two companies.

WASHINGTON—Although the chances are slim, the conforming loan limit in a few high-cost markets could rise on Jan. 1.