Originations

Demand for commercial real estate loans jumped during the first quarter to one of the highest readings in over a decade, according to the Federal Reserve's periodic survey of senior loan officers.

The White House keeps insisting it has not made a final choice for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but there is a growing expectation that Elizabeth Warren will soon get the nod.

Despite a decrease in sales, existing homes in Texas still managed to retain their value in the first quarter, according to the latest report from the state's Realtors group.

The residential mortgage division of Ally Financial posted earnings of $34 million in the first quarter, a 78% decline from the same period a year ago.

The primary units that private equity group TPG Capital acquired from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates will be grouped together and operated under the brand name DataQuick.

John Dickinson may have been more eloquent when he wrote the "Liberty Song" in 1768. But David Stevens, the new president and chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, emphasized the same point at the group's annual secondary market conference in New York.

Mortgage Harmony Corp., Tysons Corner, Va., announced that CMG Mortgage Insurance Co. has agreed to provide private mortgage insurance for its self-adjusting HarmonyLoan.

As the debate warms up about the future of housing finance, panelists at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual secondary market conference were unanimous in their endorsement of the 30-year-fixed rate mortgage.

Hopefully you could relate with my article last month, “The Dentist Diaries—Part 1,” comparing my experiences with the dentists with those of our own mortgage practices. Since I had read that the only thing people dreaded more than a trip to the dentist, was applying for a mortgage, I thought it was very fitting to compare the two industries. So let’s pick up where I left off.

After falling for four straight quarters, delinquency rates on construction loans appear to have edged up slightly in the first quarter, according to preliminary estimates from Trepp LLC.

New, higher premiums on Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages are meant to protect the government-backed program from the growing risk of losing money from loan defaults. But it will also make FHA mortgages more expensive, a key issue for homebuilders, where as many as 60% of new homebuyers use these types of loans to make their purchase.

MERSCorp Inc., parent company of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, named former CitiMortgage chairman and CEO Bill Beckmann its permanent replacement for retired president and CEO R.K. Arnold.

FelCor Lodging LP, Irving, Texas, has priced a $525 million senior secured notes offering at an interest rate of 6.75%. The notes will mature in 2019.

A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the debt ratings of Genworth Financial Inc., but also maintained its negative outlook on the company, in large part due to its private mortgage insurance subsidiary.

Despite heavy refinancing volume in the fourth quarter, mortgage lenders faced operational cross currents that reduced their profits on every loan produced.

The private mortgage insurers' cure/default ratio for March was at an all-time high, at 143.9%, according to the latest monthly data from the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

It's becoming more and more obvious to me that the real secret of success isn't in making accurate predictions then acting on them. Instead, it's in experimenting with various approaches and reinforcing those that seem to be working. Success comes as the result of trial and error and doubling up on the ideas that work, rather than the common belief in prescience and acumen.

The analysts at FBR Capital Markets have upgraded Flagstar Bancorp to "outperform" from "market perform," even though the company's first quarter loss was worse than they had predicted.

A pair of the nation's largest title insurers, First American Financial Corp. and Stewart Information Services Corp., reported net losses for the first quarter. Meanwhile, while the title insurance operations at Old Republic International Corp. were profitable, the mortgage insurance subsidiary posted an operating loss, contributing to the parent company's net loss.

Average mortgage rates continued to follow Treasury bond yields a bit lower for the second consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac’s closely watched survey.