Originations

As Wells Fargo goes, so goes the mortgage industry. Well, not exactly, but it needs to be pointed out once in a while just how much of a dominant player this megabank is in mortgage finance. In the third quarter it ranked first among all lenders, which is no secret, but in the correspondent channel it bought $41.1 billion of loans from other firms - almost triple its next closest competitor, Bank of America.

Capital Markets Cooperative, a secondary market specialist, is continuing to look at possible acquisitions, but is in no rush to sign on the dotted line.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC, a London-based insurance brokerage, has been named by the Home Builders Federation, a U.K. trade group, to manage and develop a mortgage indemnification program designed to allow buyers in that nation to purchase a home with as little as 5% down.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book Wednesday afternoon indicated there were some slight improvements in real estate and lending as 2011 drew to a close, but generally the level of business in these areas remains relatively low.

MetLife is continuing to stonewall on the future of its $1 billion warehouse lending business, leading to speculation in the market that the insurance company may wind up keeping the business after all.

After investing $1.3 billion into rental housing in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2011, NeighborWorks America, one of the country's largest network providers of affordable housing and community development training, expects more growth this year.

Real estate agents and brokers should evaluate the portals where they place their home listings to maximize their effectiveness, said Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of home listing portal and mortgage rate search marketplace Zillow.

PHH Corp. has upsized its debt offering to $220 million and has priced it at 6%. The underwriters have a 30-day over-allotment allowance of $30 million.

Valuations are the No. 1 problem facing the reverse mortgage lending community, much in the same way they are impacting the forward mortgage business, the head of the nation's largest mortgage cooperative warned.

According to a new national report released a few weeks ago by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs homelessness among veterans decreased 12% between January 2010 and January 2011. And while these decreasing numbers are encouraging, the number of homeless veterans remains astounding - and to me - heartbreaking.

Stonegate Mortgage Corp. has hired former Irwin Mortgage Corp. executive John F. Macke as EVP of capital markets in line with growth plans that include the introduction of nonagency jumbos this year.

After slowing for the end-of-year holidays, application volume increased by 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Jan. 6, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The results for the current survey as well as the previous survey include adjustments to account for the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays.

Total Mortgage Services, Milford, Conn., Wednesday named Neil Bader as its new national retail sales manager.

Banks and thrifts that play in the warehouse lending space had $29.8 billion of commitments on their books at the end of September, a 26% decline from the same period a year ago, according to new survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News.

WASHINGTON—Two senior Federal Reserve officials called on policymakers to take steps quickly to help ease the pain of the housing market to assist ongoing efforts to rescue the U.S. economy.

National Mortgage News (December 19) asks, “Can Regulators Prevent the Next Systemic Risk Crisis?” Probably not.

Michael Williams, the president and CEO of Fannie Mae, announced plans to step down as soon as a successor can be appointed, according to a company filing issued Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Insurance giant MetLife, Inc. Tuesday afternoon shocked the market, saying it would exit the business of producing new “forward” residential loans through its residential lending division, MetLife Home Loans.

PHH, the nation's largest private mortgage company, has been notified by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it is the subject of an investigation into potentially improper reinsurance payments.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., is now looking to sell $150 million in debt to help pay off $250 million of debt that matures in April. Originally the company was looking to sell $250 million in debt back in December, but cancelled that offering.