Originations

Does anyone in government feel sorry enough for jumbo borrowers that they would design a HARP program to help these (presumably) high net worth individuals take advantage of a 3.5% fixed-rate mortgage?

Mortgage applications increased by almost 4% for the week ending May 18—thanks to surging refinancings—according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Home prices hit bottom in the first quarter, but will remain flat for the rest of this year and into next, according to a new forecast from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore., continues to ramp up in commercial real estate lending at a time when many other banks are shying away from the sector.

A federal judge this week dismissed portions of the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against two former executives of IndyMac Bank, the now-defunct alt-A giant that was initially started by Countrywide Financial Corp.

The Home Affordable Refinancing Program is not giving perks to the right borrower.

Mortgage originations will fall to their lowest level in five years in 2012, according to the latest forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

I like to set goals. It's a sickness.

It is no surprise that the law of supply and demand drives costs upward or downward depending on the trajectory of the major component. The same principle holds true in the rental market.

Lenders that order appraisals to support mortgage loans may be tempted, as a cost control measure or otherwise, to limit the number of approaches to value that an appraiser uses in performing the appraisal. But those lenders, and their AMCs, should proceed with caution. The uniform appraisal standards, known as USPAP, recognize three main approaches to value: the sales-comparison approach, the cost approach, and the income approach.

Washington is squeezing small banks and chasing off the private equity investors who could help them, financier Wilbur Ross says.

Old Republic International Corp. has taken the next step in separating out its private mortgage insurance and consumer credit indemnity insurance units by selling 20.6% of Republic Financial Indemnity Group to an investor group headed by ORI president Christopher Nard.

Political races bring on all sorts of silly comparisons so why not take a stab at asking this: who would produce a more profitable mortgage banking company: President Obama or Mitt Romney?

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose 3.4% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million units.

Changing market dynamics are putting more stress and constraints on commercial real estate servicing, causing processors to reevaluate their business models and strategies, according to a panel at the Mortgage Bankers Association commercial mortgage servicing and technology show this week in Dallas.

In baseball, there are the written rules and the unwritten rules on how to play the game. Many of these unwritten rules are things you don't do on the field, in other words they make up a code of behavior.

The chief economist for the National Multi Housing Council said the strength of the recovery of the multifamily portion of the commercial real estate market has attracted both debt and equity capital to finance these properties.

Declines in the mortgage delinquency rates on all one-to-four unit residential loans outstanding during the first quarter add another layer of affirmation to previous data that suggest some level of market stabilization.

Residential Capital Corp. last week began mailing out letters to its 2.5 million mortgage customers informing them of the firm’s bankruptcy filing but also cautioning them about keeping their loans current.

A top reason why borrowers continue to be intimidated by the prospect of facing their lender-servicers is fear they will be taken advantage of.