Originations

Who says affordable housing properties have to be bland? Not members of the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, some of whom are developing what they describe as the next generation of low-income housing.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., reported net earnings of $181 million for the fourth quarter and $48 million for the full year 2010, helped by strong performance in its mortgage segment, company executives said.

Last year’s changes by the Federal Housing Administration in its originator approval practices are the primary motivator for the latest acquisition by a Roswell, N.M.-based branching company.

Investment bank Gleacher & Co. Inc.’s new Descap Mortgage Funding subsidiary has made plans for—among other things—eventual cautious expansion of its loan product offerings beyond current, standard agency/government lending efforts.

It is inevitable that when one starts up a new business, there are going to be mistakes made. And many of those mistakes are done because of a lack of knowledge about what does it take to run a business.

Big banks and Washington aren't on the same page—again.

Redwood Trust, the only firm to dip its toe back into the jumbo MBS market, earned $15 million in the fourth quarter, a 63% decline from the same period a year earlier.

Unless Congress comes up with some fresh cash by midnight Friday, the federal government will shut down — and along with it the Federal Housing Administration and its popular mortgage insurance programs. And an apparent deal to extend government operations would only kick the can down the road for another two weeks.

Government funding for Native American housing continues on its seesaw. While President Obama’s 2012 budget calls for an all-time high of $700 million for the Indian Housing Block Grant, the continuing resolution for fiscal 2011 has been slashed to $500 million.

Come April 1, the Federal Reserve Board is raising the threshold that triggers mandatory escrow accounts for jumbo loans.

Real estate valuation provider PCV Murcor has hit its 30-year anniversary.

Ventas Inc., Chicago is buying a competing health care real estate investment trust, Nationwide Health Properties Inc., in an all-stock deal valued at $7.4 billion.

Fannie Mae purchased $73.8 billion worth of mortgages from its seller/servicers during January, its weakest acquisition month since August of last year when refinancings were booming, according to figures released Monday morning.

Private mortgage insurers produced $6.4 billion in new insurance written in January, down $2 billion from December's $8.4 billion, but an improvement over the $4.2 billion written in January 2010. This is according to data collected by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.

It’s not looking pretty for home values. Prices are on a downward slide once again and the market could see a 5% to 10% further drop by the time 2011 ends.But all that seems to be a secondary concern for the senior economist at CoreLogic who tracks home prices and negative equity.

It’s starting to get a little crowded in the warehouse lending arena these days, or perhaps it only feels that way with more community banks jumping into the sector.The two latest entrants to warehouse lending include Republic Bancorp of Kentucky, and People’s United Bank, Bridgeport, Conn. (Both are publicly traded.)

One of the biggest struggles mortgage originators deal with on a daily basis is finding a steady stream of good agents to fill their referral network. Today’s real estate market calls for a fresh, out-of-the box solution to resolve this problem.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is contemplating suing the Federal Reserve Board over its looming loan officer compensation rule, according to trade group officials familiar with the matter.

Mortgage vendor CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif., lost $35 million in the fourth quarter after booking a non-cash impairment charge and taking a loss on the sale of discontinued operations.

United Guaranty Corp., the mortgage insurance subsidiary of American International Group, posted operating income of $154 million for the fourth quarter, compared to a $241 million loss in the year ago period.