Originations

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.

We keep hearing the same chorus week after week from politicians and regulators: we want private capital to return to the mortgage business. In a nutshell, they want private investors to play the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - that of buying and guaranteeing loans.

Fannie Mae continued its money losing ways in the fourth quarter, posting a net loss of $2.4 billion for the period and $16.9 billion for the year. In 2010 it lost $14 billion.

Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Edward DeMarco continued to play defense Tuesday as senators grilled him over his unwillingness to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac forgive struggling homeowners' debt.

Mortgage bankers funded roughly $404 billion of home mortgages in the fourth quarter, a 13% sequential gain, but a 25% decline from the same period in 2010, according to final survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

The great Charlie "Tremendous Jones is very well known for this quote: "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read."

The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry is ending its reinstatement for streamlined renewals Wednesday at midnight EST.

Commercial real estate property owners might not have enough equity to refinance their properties as loans originated in 2007 become due throughout this year, warns one expert.

The recently unveiled HARP 2.0 initiative should be “fully” operational in 30 days and is already exceeding expectations, according to Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan.

During a pair of appearances Tuesday on Capitol Hill, top housing officials from the Obama administration sought to reassure members of Congress about the financial condition of the Federal Housing Administration.

SunTrust Banks Inc., which has already lost hundreds of millions after repurchasing bad mortgages, could lose up to $150 million as it deals with the cost of mortgage-servicing problems.

Boston-based Highfields Capital Management, which owns a 7.7% stake in CoreLogic, accused CoreLogic's board of directors' "desire to maintain control rather than doing what is in the best interest of shareholders."

Single-family originations by commercial banks and savings institutions jumped 23% in the fourth quarter as refinancing activity accelerated from the prior period, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Manhattan Beach, Calif., has opened a new mortgage loan center in Mission Valley, following the opening of another center in Rancho Penasquitos in December.

According to figures released Tuesday morning, home values are still in the tank, with three key S&P price indices sinking in the fourth quarter to their lowest level since the housing crisis began seven years ago.

Pictures and quotes from a roundtable discussion held at the 2011 Western Regional Conference of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers

The new president and chief executive of United Guaranty Corp. said the private mortgage insurance business will "kick it up a notch" as it goes along its contrarian path of risk-based pricing.

The deadline is this Friday, March 2, for entering your data into Origination News' annual survey of top loan producers, the results of which are scheduled to appear in the April issue.

No lender or servicer wants to keep a portfolio of REO or short sale properties. For starters, they're not in the business of managing properties. Each day an REO or short sale property isn't sold is a day of upkeep and lost interest payments.

The Federal Housing Administration is following through with its pledge to increase upfront and annual insurance premiums on its forward single-family business.