Originations

A regulatory proposal to require a minimum downpayment of 20% on 'qualified residential mortgages' will make it more expensive for first-time homebuyers to obtain private mortgages, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Currently there is considerable attention being given to a fair housing case the Supreme Court is set to hear in the near future. Some have said that this case could have substantial effects on fair lending litigation. While it is not impossible this is the case, in all likelihood, I believe that the case will have little effect on fair lending litigation.

Only time will tell if the latest round of condominium buyers in the Greater Downtown Miami area will follow the fate of many of their most recent predecessors.

Redwood Trust is starting to feel like the Maytag repairman of the jumbo MBS market: it sits all alone with no company.

The remodeling sector will start slow but show enough improvement over the year that it will end 2012 on a positive note, according to a key forward indicator tabulated by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

The Fed's recent report on current conditions and policy considerations in the housing market points to barriers to recovery that have been persisting beyond its sphere of influence despite its stimulus efforts.

Just when Redwood Trust was starting to look a bit like the Maytag repairman of the jumbo MBS market, we began to hear reports this week that two top 10 ranked banks are working on jumbo deals - for later in the year.

The growing number of community banks starting warehouse lending programs has to be gratifying to the executives at Titan Lenders Corp., Denver. It was just three years ago they were so concerned about the future of this business they called for Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to fill the need.

Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. has been placed under supervision by the North Carolina Department of Insurance, its parent company Old Republic International Corp. announced.

Warehouse lending is becoming less popular with some of the big players who have provided it, but remaining and new market participants find it can be profitable if they can get comfortable with the credit.

SunTrust Banks Inc. beat expectations for fourth-quarter earnings on stronger lending, but mortgage-repurchase costs and a drop in debit-card fees overshadowed the good news.

Sales of existing single-family homes rose in December for the third straight month and Realtors are hoping it could be the start of a long-awaited recovery in the housing market.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has finalized a rule to clarify and strengthen its authority to seek indemnification from its largest lenders for making bad loans.

Even the most well-intentioned lenders sometimes fall short in terms of compliance with certain aspects of the Final Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines, most notably when it comes to having policies and procedures in place to evaluate and monitor the ongoing performance of appraisers and having the required supporting documentation to show that the lender is evaluating and monitoring the appraisers.

By now you've read the exclusive on the National Mortgage News website - that Bank of America is halting (for now) cash-out refinancings. Maybe cash-out refis don't account for much of the bank's production. Then again, relatively speaking, there isn't much production left at B of A. In 4Q the bank funded $20 billion in home loans compared to $120 billion at the number one ranked Wells Fargo.

It appears that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are starting to see their market shares erode. The same might be said of the Government National Mortgage Association.

The overall characteristics of jumbo mortgages backing Redwood Trust's latest RMBS are consistent with "high-quality underwriting," according to an unsolicited review of the deal conducted by Standard & Poor's.

Sorry, it doesn't exist. How arrogant of me, or anyone else, to make a definitive statement that something is the "best." Simply put, it would mean that I know every program that's available, have tried and tested them using a large sampling of attendees and then analyzed years of data and statistics.

Bank of America mid-week told its retail loan officers nationwide that the lender will halt, for now, originations of cash-out refinancings, citing what it calls a "surge of refinancing activity" and capacity problems.

The mortgage industry has taken one for the team in the way the payroll tax reduction extension has been funded, at least partially, by an increase in government housing agency guarantee fees. But in my view, once is more than enough.