Origination

While the biggest real estate broker show in the U.S. is the National Association of Realtors annual convention, there are many local Realtor associations that hold their own, mini-trade show that showcases their vendors and suppliers, including mortgage companies.

On a day where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by almost 179 points, all but two stocks related to the mortgage banking industry were among the losers.

Apple REIT Seven Inc., a non-exchange traded real estate investment trust, is calling on its shareholders to reject a tender offer by MacKenzie Patterson Fuller LP to purchase five million shares of its common stock for $3 per share.

A correspondent lender for the first time will be offering the HarmonyLoan, a mortgage that give borrowers the option to adjust their rate downward or extend the fixed-rate portion of their home financing at regular intervals.

Mortgage application volume increased by 13% for the week ended June 10, as those borrowers who can refinance are coming into the market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Reverse mortgage lenders' leading challenge is to convince the public that the product "is as good as it actually is," declared the top executive of Generation Mortgage, Atlanta.

Standard & Poor’s has increased its ranking of residential servicer and technology provider Reverse Mortgage Solutions from “above average” to “strong.”

Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Manhattan Beach, Calif., said it is one of the first credit unions to offer a low downpayment mortgage that will help borrowers buy one of the more than 1 million foreclosed homes now owned by Fannie Mae.

Mortgage bankers funded $11.3 billion of interest-only loans in the first quarter, a 60% gain from the same period a year earlier, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

Home purchases have picked up the past few weeks in Phoenix and Las Vegas, a sign that some of the hardest-hit housing markets may have hit bottom.