Data and information management

Prepayment speeds fell to 12.4% from 13.7% on a consecutive-quarter basis, according to Sterne Agee analysts, who have raised their fiscal year 2015 estimate for Home Loan Servicing Solutions.

Residential builders boost hiring in January, which could be a good sign for housing market.

The bureau wants to expand data collection to detect troublesome trends and effectiveness of QM rule.

Freddie Mac plans this year to start regularly issuing the credit-linked notes it began using as a form of risk-sharing last year.

Housing boom-era mortgage securitizations, written off as "toxic waste" during the financial crisis, are performing better than investors once expected, thanks to the rebound in home prices.

Mortgage rates for 30-year loans fell for a fifth week as stock market volatility and weaker-than-expected economic reports drove investors to the safety of the government bonds.

Mortgage applications volume increased 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Jan. 31, according to the MBA.

But the dollar volume of newly delinquent loans is $200 million more than in December.

Signs of a strong housing market are evident in Nassau and Suffolk County, N.Y., with foreclosure sales and months of available housing inventory both low.

But this group is also concerned about a lack of properties for sale and rising mortgage rates.

Refinances will make up just 38% of single-family originations this year—down from 60% in 2013 and 70% in 2012, according to Freddie Mac.

The sequestration and political wrangling last year meant fewer direct RHS mortgages last year, while the safety of the federal eagle on guaranteed loans appealed to lenders.

The positive trend will continue through 2016 as originations in those categories increase to $333 billion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Nonbank mortgage lenders likely increased their market share during 4Q, KBW analysts say.

Foreclosure starts ended the year at the lowest level since April 2007 and pipelines are clearing in most states.

The slide in refinancing brings commitments to purchase new mortgages to its lowest level since June 2011.

A Census Bureau reports shows little increase in first-time buyers.

The NAR's 2014 forecast calls for sales to hold steady year-over-year with price increases moderating.

The company's earnings rose 7% from a year earlier, to $18 million.

The first decline in Standard & Poor's closely-watched Case-Shiller home price index since November 2012 contributed to the easing in rate averages, according to Freddie Mac.