Data and information management

Residential loan applications fell 0.3% for the week ending February 24 while refinancings continued to dominate the business, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage bankers funded roughly $404 billion of home mortgages in the fourth quarter, a 13% sequential gain, but a 25% decline from the same period in 2010, according to final survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

Single-family originations by commercial banks and savings institutions jumped 23% in the fourth quarter as refinancing activity accelerated from the prior period, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

According to figures released Tuesday morning, home values are still in the tank, with three key S&P price indices sinking in the fourth quarter to their lowest level since the housing crisis began seven years ago.

An index from the National Association of Realtors that tracks pending home sales edged up 2% in January to the highest level since April 2010 when the government was still handing out homebuyer tax credits.

First off, I'd like to thank the crew at Bank of America for continually giving mortgage reporters and editors something to write about. Don't get me wrong--there's plenty of good stories out there. And let's face it--and you read it here first: What happens regulatory and legislatively over the next three to four years should shape the future of this industry for the next 50 years.

Home prices rose in 27 states during the fourth quarter as home values increased on GSE-related transactions during the final two months of 2011.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose eight basis points to 3.95% for the week ending Feb. 23, reflecting both an improving economy and housing market, according to new figures compiled by Freddie Mac.

Sales of existing homes rose 4.3% in January from the prior month as a mild winter and improving economic conditions encouraged buyers, according to figures released Wednesday morning.

Mortgage applications declined by almost 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Feb. 17, as refinancings declined and rates on fixed-rate loans began to increase, according to figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A bullish thesis on construction activity has taken hold among investors who have bid up the shares of major home builders by as much as 80% in the last six months.

First things first: Yes, I can live on $500,000. Heck, I can live on $250,000 a year. Would I like to run Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage giant? Answer: Sure, why not? But first I have a few stipulations.

Foreclosure filings nationwide rose 3% in January from the month prior, a sign that improving delinquency rates may have a huge lag effect.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage held fast to its record-low rate of 3.87% for the third week in a row, according to Freddie Mac's primary market survey.

The pace of housing construction hit a three-year high in January as multifamily starts rose nearly 15% while single-family activity declined 1%, according to government figures released Thursday morning.

Mortgage applications declined 1% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending February 10, driven by an almost 9% seasonally adjusted drop in purchase applications, according to figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Roughly 43% of borrowers with 30-year loans who refinanced into a new product during the fourth quarter chose shorter maturities, the highest reading since 2003.

Despite a shadow inventory of 1.6 million seriously delinquent loans, and a huge inventory of foreclosures, nearly 50% of 900 housing markets tracked by CoreLogic registered price gains last year.

How oppressive are distressed sales to the housing market? Try this: The top 50 sellers of homes are banks, according to Jonathan Smoke of Housing Intelligence, the research arm of the Hanley Wood publishing company.

Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock Financial, is nobody's fool - not by a long shot. He cut his teeth at First Boston many moons ago, helped shape the MBS market, and then went on to create a financial services powerhouse: BlackRock