Origination

The long rumored ‘mega’ layoff at Bank of America’s mortgage unit has begun.

The mortgage insurance industry hopes that banking regulators recognize the value of their product when finalizing their ‘qualified residential mortgage’ test -- but so far their pleas have fallen on deaf years.

California's home sales improved by 3.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis month-to-month and 1.5% year-over-year in March, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The unthinkable happened. The free world may just come to an end. Not because the government shut down, but because Pia was voted off of American Idol.

It appears that 100% financing on home mortgages is back – at least for a few days.

Bank of America funded $58.4 billion of home mortgages in the first quarter, a 33% decline compared to 4Q, and a further sign that the megabank — like many others — is suffering from a weak home buying market.

Ellie Mae priced its initial public offering at $6 per share Thursday evening, raising $45 million for the Pleasanton, Calif.-based mortgage technology vendor.

The chief congressional proponent of the risk retention rule says federal regulators have gone too high in setting a 20% downpayment requirement on single-family loans that meet the "qualified residential mortgage" test.

Perhaps, loan brokers should just stop battling the Federal Reserve over its loan officer compensation rule, adapt, and move on to the next stage of their career. Or as loan broker/banker Chris Sorensen put it: "This isn't as bad as people think. Once the whining and crying is over, brokers will pick their comp rate and start competing with the big boys."

Foreclosure filing activity decreased over the past three months by 15% from the last quarter in 2010 and 27% lower than the first quarter of last year, according to the latest RealtyTrac foreclosure market report.