Originations

Certain small banks have stopped originating Federal Housing Administration loans because of the costs of a new audit requirement that went into effect April 1, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Florida existing home sales increased 13% and existing condominium sales increased 29% over the first quarter 2010, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. While the housing recovery is gaining strength in the state, there is still an overhang from distressed properties, an economist explained.

The LifeComps Commercial Mortgage Index found returns on investment for commercial mortgages held by life insurers were 14.7% for the full year of 2010, although the fourth quarter had the lowest ROI for the year.

Associated Banc, Green Bay, Wisc., ended the first quarter with roughly $500 million of warehouse lending commitments on its books, almost double what it had a year ago.

Reported incidents of subscriber-verified mortgage fraud and misrepresentation by industry professionals have decreased from 2009 to 2010, according to a recent report by the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute. Actual incidents, however, as opposed to reported, are believed to be up.

WASHINGTON—A “small fraction” of the nation’s 3,000-plus counties will be impacted when the formula that determines the conforming loan limit changes on Oct. 1., according to an analysis by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Among the headlines from the recent Mortgage Bankers Association National Secondary Market Conference in New York is that economists from the trade group have declared that the refinance boom is dead.

An over-concentration of subprime mortgage-backed securities caused the failure of Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union, the one-time $14 billion corporate CU that is restructuring itself, the National Credit Union Administration said in a new report issued late Monday night.

PSM Holdings, Roswell, N.M., has signed a letter of intent to acquire Brookside Mortgage LLC, a mortgage banker/broker based in Tulsa, Okla.

Redwood Trust Inc., Mill Valley, Calif., earned $18 million in the first quarter, a 61% decline from the same period a year ago as lower net interest revenue and negative valuation adjustments took a bite out of its performance.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Milwaukee, reported it had nearly 1,100 more cures than new notices of default for April, the third month in a row this has happened.

Home values showed the sharpest quarterly declines since 2008, falling 3% in the first quarter this year, according to Zillow’s real estate market report.

Gramercy Capital Corp., New York, has defaulted on $791 million in first mortgage and mezzanine loans, as the loans reached their latest maturity date without a payment being made.

DALLAS—Consumers’ sense of obligation to the mortgage contract remains strong, according to the results of a market research survey conducted last summer on behalf of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Freddie Mac expects to price an offering of about $1.1 billion in structured multifamily mortgage pass through securities during the week of May 16 for settlement on May 26 or thereabouts.

Alan Todd plans to join Bank of America Merrill Lynch in August as head of U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities research.

For Diane Clark, her relationship with her clients comes down to one statement: “I want to be their trusted advisor. I always want to be thought of as somebody that has integrity, is honest and is somebody they can trust.

Surviving mortgage originators are developing strategies to cope with the fact that many industry experts are predicting that for the first time in 14 years, there will be less than $1 trillion in loan volume.

Republicans are strongly considering using a rare procedural move to prevent President Obama from making a recess appointment to install a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Six years ago, when the market was flying down the road in overdrive, economist Mark Zandi drew the ire of homebuilders when he predicted housing was about to drive off a cliff. Now, Zandi's singing a different tune. And the builders love it.