Originations

The government owned Ally Financial posted a $210 million loss in the third quarter, dragged down by a $471 million pre-tax charge tied to its mortgage servicing rights.

Nearly three-quarters of baby boomers said they would rather be close to their children or family during their retirement year, rather than live in a community with friends of their own age.

New residential loan applications grew fractionally for the week ending October 28, despite continued rock bottom interest rates, according to figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

While new CMBS issuance is likely to continue trailing off as of Tuesday afternoon there was still at least one deal in the works and there were signs of continued investor demand for it despite broader market concerns.

The U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday sued Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. and two executives — including founder Jim Hodge — accusing them of fraudulent lending practices tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in government-backed loans.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield Tuesday morning dropped more than 20 basis points and the Dow fell close to 300 points, putting downward pressure on industry stocks and mortgage rates.

There were 58,019 single-family homes sold in Texas during the third quarter, up 18% over the same period last year, the Texas Quarterly Housing Report said. Volume, one economist noted, has returned to levels last seen eight and nine years ago, when the markets acted in a more normal fashion.

The new-issue private label commercial mortgage-backed securities market has been taking a breather, and how long it will last depends on what happens as far as international financial concerns and other events that have roiled U.S. and world markets.

Fannie Mae acquired $55.3 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in September, its best purchase month since March, and a sign that loan production is gaining traction in the primary market.

Radian Group, which controls the nation's third largest mortgage insurance company, posted strong third quarter earnings of $183.6 million, but attributed those gains to changes in the "fair value" of "derivatives and other financial instruments" —- to the tune of almost $207 million.

In marketing your company, like any sport, there is offense and defense. Defense means not giving your competition any ammunition to use in their marketing campaigns.

Hudson City Bancorp Inc., Paramus, N.J., earned $84 million in the third quarter, in what its top executive called a “difficult environment facing portfolio lenders."

The bankruptcy of MF Global Holdings Ltd. and its ensuing suspension as a primary dealer shook the larger market Monday morning, putting downward pressure on rate-indicative bond yields.

With most banks still flush with deposits and reluctant to lend, the need for advances from the Federal Home Loan Banks continued to drop sharply during the third quarter, according to a report released Friday by the Office of Finance.

Life insurers had a 107 basis point improvement in the returns on their commercial mortgage loan investments in the second quarter over the first quarter, according to the LifeComps Commercial Mortgage Performance Index.

It could well be that the new government refinancing program announced last week will turn out to be the turning point in the recovery of the home loan industry.

The mortgage insurance industry wrote $4.9 billion of new coverage in September, down $700 million from August, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America. However, two private MIs—Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. and PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.—were ordered by their respective regulators to stop writing new business during August.

Bill McCue has run his family's mortgage banking shop for 35 years, but he says the best days are yet to come.

Last week I delivered a presentation to a mortgage lender group in Nashville, Tenn. As I scanned the audience I noticed something I have seen in nearly every group of mortgage professionals I have addressed lately; people are stressed, they are tired—and they aren't getting any younger.

Among the implications of litigation related to pay-option ARMs as of press time were potential liabilities that could affect how disclosure documents are drawn up, not only at the originator level but also for investors who buy loans through the correspondent channel.