Origination

Interest rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by four basis points on average for the week ended April 14, making it four weeks in a row of increases, according to Freddie Mac.

A rising interest rate scenario could lead bank mortgage lenders back to the securitization markets, a paper from Fitch Research hypothesizes. The combination of rising rates and slowing prepayments might expose liability-sensitive banks to repricing risks and net interest margin compression.

The housing-crisis-driven high demand for financial counseling services of recent years appears to be on track for further collaborative growth and innovation despite budding and expected economic improvements.

The Federal Reserve, in its new 'Beige Book' report, offers little hope that residential real estate markets will pick up steam anytime soon, but there are glimmers of improvement in such once depressed markets as Florida.

I just completed a killer interview with Denise Phillippi, a branch manager in Overland Park, Kans. Every single week, she has at least one file transferred to her (requested by the real estate agent or the buyer) because her competition simply screwed up.

The Federal Housing Administration has fined a Brookline, Mass., lender $72,500 and ordered the firm to reimburse the agency for past insurance claims.

Mortgage technology vendor Ellie Mae registered its common stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday morning, lowering not only its initial public offering price, but the amount of money it hopes to raise in the capital markets.

Sales of distressed properties could pull home prices down by another 10%, according to CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming.

Mortgage originations at JPMorgan Chase dropped 29% since the end of 2010, kicking off a year where industrywide originations are projected to drop below $1 trillion.

When it comes to adapting for market survival never, never underestimate the creativity of mortgage and real estate professionals, especially players that are privately held and hate dealing with multiple levels of regulation.