Origination

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the rating of Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) to A2 from A1 on Friday.

Sales of existing single-family homes rose 1.6% in October after falling 4% in September with purchases remaining "stuck in a narrow range," according to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors.

Over the years, the mortgage industry has had its share of celebrity endorsers. The most famous were probably Jim Palmer and the late Phil Rizzuto who were, at different times, the pitchmen for subprime mortgage lender The Money Store.

Mike D'Alonzo last week officially stepped down as president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, saying he wants to spend more time running his Pennsylvania-based brokerage firm.

An Idaho bank holding company is shutting its own mortgage production operations and instead will use a third-party originator to provide mortgage funding for its clients as part of its expense reduction efforts.

An estimated 1 million homeowners with Federal Housing Administration-insured loans could benefit by refinancing at today's low rates -- but the government's mortgage insurer doesn't think it will happen.

Five months and counting. That's the number of months the Houston market has showed gains in its existing home sales.

Here's a couple of names you don't usually see at the top of any housing list: El Paso and Boise. Yet there they are, leading the pack in new home closings in the third quarter.

If MGIC Investment Corp. were to downstream $200 million in capital to its Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. subsidiary, the parent company's ability to meet $589 million in senior debt obligations might be stressed and the holders of its $390 million in junior subordinated debt could face substantially losses, according to the analysts at Moody's Investors Service.

For those salespeople and managers out there who whine about how hard it is to actually talk to people, and that they are contacting so many more people by email because it's more effective, here's something to chew on.