Banking

BankUnited of Miami Lakes, Fla., has exited the retail mortgage origination channel.

Midtown Manhattan, once the pinnacle of U.S. office markets, is facing a jump in large, empty work spaces as new towers open and tenants spread out across the city, including outer boroughs that businesses once shunned.

Walker & Dunlop has agreed to acquire the other half of a commercial mortgage-backed securities joint venture it has with Fortress Investment Group.

Greystone in New York has hired Gregory Forester to lead a new group for hospitality-focused lending and investing.

Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., has hired four bankers to a develop a business line making Federal Housing Administration-insured loans for multifamily rental properties.

Employment at nonbank mortgage lenders and brokers was down in November, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

CrediFi, a New York-based provider of commercial property data, is launching CMBS Suite, which it said is an information resource for lenders looking to refinance securitized commercial mortgages.

But the strong demand for tax credits from those projects is also whittling down the investment returns as their riskiness declines, according to a new report by the New York-based accounting firm CohnReznick.

A recent tax change will provide more stability to banks and developers that use the low-income housing tax credit program, and the supply of below-market-rate apartments should increase as a result. But it's not enough to create the economic incentives needed to meet skyrocketing demand for affordable housing in the U.S.

The Federal Reserve's interest rate increase has commercial real estate debt and equity financing players even more upbeat about their prospects in 2016.

Ditech Financial, a subsidiary of Walter Investment Management, is exiting the distributed retail mortgage production channel.

Owens Realty Mortgage has promoted its chief financial officer, Bryan Draper, to chief executive and president.

As the purchase market heats up, banks are looking to utilize digital tools meant to make the daunting homebuying experience easier.

The more aggressive nonbank lenders are attracting top producers by essentially allowing loan officers to set their own rate of pay. While so-called "pick-a-pay" compensation plans are not illegal, critics say they can encourage loan officers to steer consumers into more expensive loans in order to increase their own pay.

National Mortgage News is pleased to begin accepting submissions for the 2016 Top Producers, an annual ranking of mortgage loan officer and broker origination volume.

Rather than relying on a formal marketing services agreement to get business, loan officers now have to prove that they can provide realty agents and consumers the best mortgage experience.

Jason Evans of Mortgage Master sees his business thrive through close attention to the finer points of customer experience.

For commercial real estate investors, the good times may be over.

Changes to the tax code approved by Congress may set the stage for increased privatization of real estate investment trusts, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

The price of the loans underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities increased modestly from October to November, according to DebtX.