Originations

In what may be bad news for mortgage lenders, 30% of all California home buyers paid for their property with cash.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recognizes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac likely will be around for a few more years—and the only way to reduce their dominance is to raise guarantee fees while providing a secondary market execution for private securitizations.

Back in July the credit union beefed up its jumbo ARM lending, rolling out new products with introductory rates as low as 2.875%.

Community bankers, which are increasing their presence in residential mortgages, expect to face some tough choices on staying independent.

The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees 20% of all new mortgages, has raised premiums and tightened credit standards in an effort to avoid asking for a taxpayer subsidy.

Congratulations, Mr. President. What's your position on bailing out the Federal Housing Administration fund?

Estimates on property damage caused by Hurricane Sandy range from $20 billion to $50 billion.

Will the long-awaited qualified mortgage rule be unveiled by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before Thanksgiving?

It's the MSR sale of the century. And the century is still young.

Independent foreclosure reviews at the major banks were meant to compensate wronged homeowners and restore some faith in the integrity of mortgage servicing. Instead, the process has become mired in questions of objectivity.

I have been putting out National Mortgage News for more years than I care to admit to and this issue, the Nov. 5 edition, is the hardest I’ve ever had to get out.

Lenders should institutionalize the loan officer assistant position, and place strict limitations on its functions.

One of its highlights was technology, data and analytics where revenue rose 11% to $192 million. Its EBITDA margin was 26.7%, up 460 basis points from last year.

The National Association of Independent Housing Professionals has formally asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to grant an extension on the filing of mortgage call reports for those in the FEMA disaster areas.

It appears that the government-owned Ally Financial likes mortgage brokers after all, trusting them in the jumbo space.

The government owned bank will fund jumbo mortgages through brokers and correspondents.

Mortgage brokers accounted for almost half the job gains since the beginning of the year, according to an analysis by National Mortgage News.

Fannie Mae ended September with loan commitments to buy $76.5 billion of new mortgages, a sign that originations will stay strong until yearend.

The survey, however, offers no specifics on residential loan officers, who according to National Mortgage News, are doing quite well this year.

At the end of September, Redwood Trust had 49 active residential loan sellers, up from 37 at June 30. It hopes to have 55 (correspondent) sellers by year end.