Originations

A drop in mortgage lending volumes to the lowest level in over a decade is forcing lenders to consider new cost cuts and staff reductions. The lack of activity comes despite a boost from low interest rates that has sparked a wave of refinancings, and is prompting lenders to face the prospect that refis and home purchases may remain moribund for an extended period.

Mortgage bankers funded $351 billion of new residential loans in the first quarter, a 35% decline from a robust 4Q, but a slight gain from the year ago period, according to new figures compiled by National Mortgage News.

As part of its acquisition of the 16 Ohio branches of Liberty Savings Bank, First Financial Bancorp, Cincinnati, is buying a $143 million in-market performing loan portfolio. The portfolio is made up of 38% residential mortgages, 37% commercial real estate/multifamily loans and 20% home equity loans.

IServe Residential Lending, an 18-state lender, this week announced that it has added seven new retail branch locations: three each in California and Washington state, and one in North Carolina.

Freddie Mac on Friday began making adjustable-rate mortgages eligible for securitization into its K certificate multifamily mortgage-backed securities.

The market share gap between Fidelity National Financial and First American continues to shrink, even as both companies are losing business to smaller national and regional competitors, according to first quarter data compiled by the American Land Title Association.

Over the past 28 years, in delivering over 1200 training sessions and workshops, I have fielded lots of questions. Many of the same ones about parts of the sales call, some good, others not so much. But some of the toughest ones I ever received were from my kids years ago when they were younger.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has stepped up its advocacy of electronic signatures, sending an open letter to the acting commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration requesting the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s home finance unit begin accepting e-signatures on all loan documents.

Ellie Mae has hired Parvesh Sahi to serve as vice president of compliance solutions, overseeing development of Ellie’s acquisition of compliance software provider Mavent.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers this week confirmed that it has ended its legal challenge of the Federal Reserve Board's controversial rule on loan officer compensation and is looking at alternative ways of changing how LOs are paid.

Mortgage companies cut 5,300 full-time employees from their payrolls in April, marking the fourth consecutive month in which industry employment fell, according to government figures released Friday morning.

A group of strange bedfellows called on mortgage industry regulators to step back from a proposed rule that they say would stifle lending to all but the most well-heeled home buyers.

One chief reason mortgage application volume is slowing and home prices have yet to recover is regulatory “overreaction” in the wake of the housing bust, according to former Federal Home Loan Bank president Alex Pollock.

Shellpoint Partners LLC, a joint venture between company management and Ranieri Partners, has purchased New Penn Financial, an originator of FHA/VA and conforming loans, based in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

It has been a mixed bag for mortgage-related stocks on Thursday morning, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid another 85 points, on top of a decline of 280 points on Wednesday.

The average 30-year mortgage rate’s seventh consecutive decline during the week ending June 2 brought it to new lows not seen in Freddie Mac’s survey since the week ending Dec. 2.

Mortgage technology vendor Ellie Mae registered its common stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, lowering not only its initial public offering price, but the amount of money it hopes to raise in the capital markets.

Are you getting frustrated that no one is commenting on your Facebook posts? I recommend that about one-third of your posts be about business, while another one-third should be personal, with a short post (and pictures) about what you have been up to lately. And finally, one-third should be fun—such as asking personal questions that you’d like your friends, real estate agents, family and fans to answer.

Home prices rose slightly in April for the first time since the federal home buyer tax credit expired last summer, according to the CoreLogic house price index, which includes distressed sales.

State regulators this week fined Mortgage Access Corp., an affiliate of realty giant Weichert, $3 million for using unlicensed mortgage originators. The settlement covers 10 states.