Originations

Remodeling activity will grow by a "healthy" 6% by year's end, according to an index that measures strength in the sector.

Until not too long ago eWarehouseOne had a policy: if a firm didn't pass the application review stage, the company would return the mortgage banker's money. At least that's what company vice president Anthony Simich told National Mortgage News last month.

Ally Financial is continuing talks with Nationstar about the REIT buying Residential Capital Corp./GMAC through a 'prepackaged' bankruptcy transaction, according to investment bankers familiar with the companies.

Freddie Mac's weekly average for the 30-year rate came in two basis points higher at 3.9%, while the average for the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM dropped seven basis points to a new low at 2.78%.

While Astoria Financial's first quarter net income fell by $17 million on a year-over-year basis, its reemergence in the multifamily/commercial real estate lending space is skyrocketing.

The White House budget office estimates that losses caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's reckless management and lending policies will shrink over the next 10 years and cost the U.S. Treasury just $28 billion.

Election time is like the Wild West: anything can, and will, happen. Yesterday our page views went through the roof when we blogged about GOP hopeful Mitt Romney floating the idea of getting rid of HUD. So far, Romney hasn't backed down from the idea (that we know of), but professionals who are serious about this industry know full well that killing HUD at this point in the recovery would cause housing to crater yet again.

New York Community Bancorp on Wednesday posted a 76% first-quarter jump in mortgage banking revenue from a year earlier, as the Westbury, N.Y., bank saw robust growth in multi-family and commercial real estate loans.

The 2.0 version of the HARP program is off to a strong start with the nation's five largest servicers gobbling up applications, HUD secretary Shaun Donovan told a Mortgage Bankers Association gathering Thursday morning.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week lifted an eight-year-old cease and desist order against the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, which pioneered the Mortgage Partnership Program back in the 1990s.

The federal government doubled down on fair-lending enforcement Wednesday when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it planned to pursue actions against lenders even when discrimination was unintentional.

Bank of America originated just $16 billion of first and second liens in the first quarter, a 72% decline from the same period a year ago as the closing of its correspondent channel weighed heavily.

A recent survey from staffing firm Robert Half International finds many chief financial officers believe their office environment has been successful in their Candace role of stifling worker creativity.

Lenders are relying on technology to help with good-faith estimate compliance, but some loan origination system providers may have been caught off guard when the new GFE rolled out, said an executive with one of the settlement services providers.

The residential mortgage banking division of PNC Financial Services Group reported a $61 million profit for the first quarter, turning around a $61 million loss suffered in 4Q.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Wednesday said it has started a competitive bid process for commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation holdings in the Maiden Lane III LLC portfolio.

Genworth Financial lost 20% of its market value Wednesday afternoon after it revealed accelerating losses at its Australian mortgage insurance affiliate and delayed a spin-off of that division until next year.

If GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has his way HUD will be killed and presumably so will the FHA program. It's election season and the candidate - hoping to appeal to conservatives - wants to stick a knife in HUD/FHA because, well, it's a cabinet level agency and cutting big government is a red meat move.

The U.S. economy is poised for moderate growth in 2012, but unlike prior recessions, the housing sector won't lead the recovery, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was overheard this week saying that if elected he might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the popular FHA program.