Origination

The big question on everyone’s mind at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York was, when will we see a thriving nonconforming secondary again?

When long-term interest rates ticked up late last year, it was widely believed that mortgage revenues would modestly decline in the first quarter. Revenues did fall, but the drop-off was more extreme than most community banks expected.

United Guaranty Corp., the mortgage insurance subsidiary of American International Group, had operating income of $13 million for the first quarter, down from operating income of $73 million for the same period last year.

Strategy always gains from specificity. It's even more important to be specific when planning and conducting the implementation of the strategy. A key role of the strategic leader is to move from general assertions to specific expressions of intent and then on to the actual plan of implementation.

Credit Suisse this week hired Roger Lehman as managing director and head of its commercial mortgage-backed securities department, responsible for research and analysis. His appointment is effective August 1.

The mortgage industry continued to shed jobs in March, the third straight month in which full-time employment in the sector took a dive, according to government figures released Friday morning.

Senate Republicans declared war on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Thursday afternoon when they vowed to block the nomination of any permanent director unless Congress agrees to sweeping changes to the agency's structure.

The biggest obstacle to confirming a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may not be Republicans or banking industry opposition but rather a ticking clock.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations jumped 89% higher during the first quarter on a year-to-year basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association quarterly survey.

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., lost $127 million in the first quarter 2011, as its U.S. mortgage insurance business had a net loss of $137 million for the period due to continued high losses and loss adjustment expenses and lower premiums earned.