Origination

Home prices could fall 5% this winter, right before the start of the much anticipated spring home buying season, according to Standard & Poor's chief economist David Wyss.

A New York appeals court dismissed a lawsuit against bond insurer MBIA brought by twenty of the world's largest financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase. The lawsuit claimed that the 2009 split of MBIA amounted to a fraudulent conveyance.

Loan applications, on a seasonally adjusted basis, inched up in the latest week tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey as purchase apps decreased slightly and refinance apps increased a bit in response to a slight drop in rates.

The Federal Housing Administration's guidance regarding reverse mortgage borrowers who are in default because of nonpayment of taxes and/or insurance is a good "first giant step" towards dealing with the problem, an executive at a company that specializes in servicing Home Equity Conversion Mortgages declared.

One of the biggest questions Sue and I get from our subscribers at www.reversemortgagesuccess.com is “Please tell us what your 'best' reverse mortgage marketing strategy is?” or “If you could only do one thing to get new business what would it be?

As the backlog of foreclosures continues to drive down housing values, losses on private label MBS will increase in 2011, according to a new report from Moody's Investors Service.

Even though its core business is homebuilding, the problem loan business has been a profitable one for Lennar Corp. in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010, which ended on Nov. 30.

Interest rates jumped, pipeline pressure fell, and profit margins on mortgage production appear to have retreated in the fourth quarter.

Recovery in the mortgage insurance sector will continue during 2011, as the sector eyes sustained profitability in 2012, according to an analyst at Credit Suisse.

In November U.S. home prices declined for the fourth month in a row, a sign that housing markets are still on shaky ground, according to new figures released by CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif.