Origination

Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Manhattan Beach, Calif., said it has expanded its mortgage offerings to include government-backed Federal Housing Administration loans.

Despite an 11th-hour reprieve that delayed the Federal Reserve's loan officer compensation rule from taking effect at least until Tuesday, the mortgage industry's chances of overturning the rule are slim.

Investment bankers and mortgage industry executives are frequently criticized in the media for their supposedly exorbitant compensation packages — but wait until you see what the top officers at some of the nation's publicly traded home builders earned in 2010.

Only a "small fraction" of the nation's 3,000-plus counties will be impacted when the formula that determines the conforming loan limit changes in October, according to an analysis by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

As unemployment and household income continue to be lingering issues and distressed assets are still prevalent. So it may be worth looking at all the big-picture factors affecting this trend and considering whether one is in a position where waiting to sell into a stronger market is the best way to go or not.

Speed is one of the keys to achieving the best result in an asset disposition, according to one asset management firm.

As developments like the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s plan to gradually and competitively sell nonagency residential mortgage-backed securities from the “bailout” period into an improved market suggest, it looks like we’re starting to put the recent downturn behind us in some respects.

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Irvine, Calif., saw its year-over-year earnings increase by more than 200% to $10.3 million for 2010 as it returned to the loan origination business during the third quarter of the year.

In his book, "The Four Loves," C.S. Lewis writes: "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index fell by nearly two basis points in February, to 1.469%. This is the 11th consecutive month of decline in the index, which has been used by some West Coast lenders to set adjustable-rate mortgages.