Origination

Given the high expectations, and long wait, surrounding the Obama administration's proposal to create a new housing finance system, it was likely inevitable that it would disappoint. Critics said the plan was tepid, scant on key details and, in the words of Sen. Richard Shelby, "lacked a sense of urgency."

The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions is exploring whether a federal bond program could be used as a funding source for long-term assets and to bolster secondary capital for Community Development Financial Institutions.

Rockwood Capital LLC and Crow Holdings have invested $200 million in Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC Dallas to create a joint venture to invest in multifamily real estate development, construction and acquisitions.

There was a 21% increase in homes valued at $1 million or more sold in California in 2010 over the previous year, according to DataQuick Information Systems, La Jolla, Calif.

In several different venues Friday morning, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended the administration's decision not to offer a full-fledged plan for the future of the housing market, insisting that Congress had only asked for an array of options.

Mortgage servicing may be changing and self-adjusting into a new still-not completely undefined model, but the fact that it appears to be a work in progress is not discouraging bankers from eyeing what it has to offer.Without much fanfare the crisis has irreversibly turned in-house mortgage servicing and specialty servicing into hot markets.

First the good news: mortgage lenders had a strong fourth quarter and profit margins on new originations were still exceedingly high even though rates began ticking up the last few weeks of the year. Now for the bad news: few in the industry think the good news of the past several months will continue much beyond March.

Expert says it is a matching game that is not just based on the LO’s volume.The mortgage sales business will be challenged in 2011 as originators compete to attract the higher-quality loan officers, an executive with recruiting firm Hammerhouse LLC commented.

MetLife Bank has hired industry veteran Jess Lederman to head its fledgling correspondent lending division, the last piece in the company’s plan to become a top five player in mortgage banking.

For any type of insurance company to be successful, it needs to properly price the risk it is taking on in the event it has to pay out a claim. At several of the private mortgage insurance companies, the notion of enhanced risk-based premiums has taken on new life, spurred by the events of the past few years.