Originations

Gateway Mortgage Group, Tulsa, Okla., this week launched a new correspondent lending division that will purchase conforming and government loans from depositories and mortgage bankers, with the aim of retaining the servicing rights.

You pick up the phone. The person on the line starts the conversation by asking what the interest rate is on your 30-year fixed rate loan.

Lenders increasingly want to control the marketing done by individual originators due to increasing industry compliance concerns, according to one vendor in the space.

Federal Housing Administration single-family endorsements rose 9.5% in January from the prior month while the percentage of seriously delinquent government loans inched up to 9.8%.

Electronic signatures have been legal in the United States since 2000. But a lack of acceptance at the Federal Housing Administration and the Internal Revenue Service has prevented some lenders, even technologically advanced ones, from using the technology for any mortgage documents.

Viewpoint Bank, Plano, Texas ended the year with $1.15 billion of warehouse commitments on its books, a 53% gain over 12 months.

Recent revisions made to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program appear to have sparked an increase in loan applications, raising hopes that more underwater mortgages could refinance.

There was nearly $5 billion in primary new insurance in January written by the members of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America, down from $5.8 billion in December.

Fannie Mae saw its secondary market purchases fall by 20% in January while its cross town competitor, Freddie Mac, experienced a 10% gain, a sign that, perhaps, the Bank of America "problem" could be affecting the business of the two GSEs.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped five basis points to 3.9% in Freddie Mac's closely watched primary market rate survey for the week ending March 1.

Like carnival barkers at the county fair, mortgage brokers and realtors are urging underwater homeowners to hurry, hurry, hurry on their short-sale plans.

In the end, MetLife Inc. wasn't crazy about the residential finance business, but it had a darn good quarter origination wise, according to final survey figures the company provided to National Mortgage News.

Whether you like it are not, you are a manager. The only question: Are you a good manager?

The Federal Home Loan Bank System has made a pitch to the National Credit Union Administration that could tap the credit union movement for tens of billions of dollars in new funds.

Residential real estate markets "improved somewhat" in most parts of the U.S., especially in home sales, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report released Wednesday afternoon.

It would appear that the future is starting to brighten for loan brokers, at least according to new figures released by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, which shows an increase in the number of state-licensed LOs and mortgage companies.

The Obama administration's plan to refinance underwater borrowers with private-label mortgages was supposed to be dead on arrival -- but it appears Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, wants to hear more.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s quarterly bank earnings report shows bank mortgage portfolios increased 1.4%, to $1.88 trillion, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.

ClosingCorp has introduced a business-to-consumer online loan cost estimate calculator that includes a lead generation component, and is offering it in conjunction with real estate Internet sites.

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.