Data and information management

Nonbank trade groups are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to narrow the definitions it will use to determine which nonbanks will be subject to federal supervision.

Mortgage companies added 2,800 full-time employees to their payrolls in March after hiring 2,700 in February, according to government figures released Friday morning.

Mortgage applications rose a scant 0.1% for the week ending April 27 with refinancings slipping ever so slightly.

PHH Corp. posted net earnings of $75 million for the first quarter, turning a profit on its residential mortgage operation, but suffering charges on its servicing business. In 1Q11, the company earned $49 million.

It appears that a flip-flop of sorts is happening in regard to the FHA and VA programs.

Recent hikes in FHA premiums appear to be causing a shift in government-backed mortgage programs.

The inventory of vacant homes for sale fell in the first quarter to the lowest level in six years, according to a new government report which helps explain why real estate agents are complaining about the tight supply of REO properties.

Large banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, credited a pickup in mortgage banking returns for helping boost their quarterly revenue.

Out of 212 markets tracked by RealtyTrac’s metropolitan foreclosure market report, 114 had more foreclosures take place for the first three months of 2012 than the final quarter of last year.

The average primary market rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan during the week ending April 26 inched down two basis points to 3.88%, according to Freddie Mac's latest survey.

Sterling Financial, Spokane, Wash., reported that first-quarter net income rose 146% from the same period last year, to $13.3 million, due primarily to growth in loan balances, lower funding costs and improved asset quality.

Freddie Mac purchased $42 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in March, its strongest acquisition month since the refinancing boom of late 2010.

National home values experienced their largest monthly gain since May 2006 by increasing 0.5% in March, according to Zillow’s Home Value Index.

Mortgage applications fell by almost 4% for the seven-day period ending April 20 after a brief week of improvement, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

BOK Financial, Tulsa, Okla., reported first-quarter earnings of $83.6 million, up from 29% from a year earlier, as credit costs lowered and mortgage banking revenue soared.

New home sales in January and February were much higher than originally reported, taking some steam out of transactions for March, which fell 7% from the prior month.

Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday morning that home prices fell in February for the sixth consecutive month to the lowest level since 2002.

At the first public meeting Monday of the reconstituted Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board, agency officials eased projections for future bank failures.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau poked its thumb in the eye of residential loan officers originating mortgages for depositories.

March went out like a lion in Illinois, where existing home sales hit their highest level in four years during the month and the median price snapped a 20-month streak of declines.