Jumbo mortgages

Many Californians who earn the median household income for their area cannot afford to buy a house where they work, the California Association of Realtors said.

Mortgage application volume grew 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with the week prior, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The $3.9 billion-asset Luther Burbank Savings has opened retail loan origination offices in several Southern California cities to produce more jumbo mortgages. It is one of several lenders in the region that think jumbo loans are worth the risks to achieve growth.

Four more Federal Home Loan Banks have won regulatory approval to participate in a program that allows member institutions to sell jumbo mortgage loans through a conduit to Redwood Trust.

Applications for mortgages for new purchases fell 4% in July compared to June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Wells Fargo's head of mortgage lending, Mike Heid, will retire in October. The San Francisco company will promote Franklin Codel, head of mortgage production, to succeed Heid as head of Wells Fargo Home Lending.

Home shoppers in San Francisco needed incomes of $267,780 to become owners of a typical house in the second quarter as prices soared to a record.

Shellpoint Partners is preparing to issue its first private-label residential mortgage-backed security since walking away from its last deal in 2013.

Mortgage credit availability rose in July, as lenders pushed higher-balance loan products, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Prospective borrowers for single-family homes will be required to make a minimum down payment of 15% of the purchase price, down from 20%. The borrower must have a minimum FICO score of 680, down from 740.

Mortgage applications rose a seasonally adjusted 4.7% for the week ending July 31, compared to the previous week.

Banks are seeing stronger consumer demand for credit for a range of products, including residential mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey of senior loan officers released Monday.

EverBank Financial, driven by growth in jumbo mortgage originations, had second quarter home loan volume of $2.7 billion, up from $2.2 billion one year prior.

Down payments increased in size in the second quarter, as competition for homes picked up this summer, according to LendingTree.

Mortgage applications for the week ending July 24 rose by nearly a percentage point, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Demand for home purchases rose in June although more slowly than in previous months, the online real estate brokerage Redfin said. The firm also projected a slowdown in the rise of home values.

Bankers were pleased with the dramatic leap in home lending last quarter, but they cautioned that volume will slow in the second half as rate increases curb refinancings, nonbanks provide stiffer competition, servicing costs remain high and underwriting standards change.

Mortgage application volume rose 0.1% for the week ending July 17, a slight uptick from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

United Wholesale Mortgage has begun offering interest-only mortgages through its third party origination channels.

JPMorgan Securities will issue a total of $388 million of securities backed by two pools of jumbo, prime residential mortgages.