Originations

Los Angeles is the city where residents are the least prepared for retirement out of the nation's 30 largest metropolitan areas, according to a study for Ameriprise Financial.

Residential mortgage applications rose 11.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Jan. 28, with purchase money loans gathering steam, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Bowing to pressure from consumer and industry groups, the Federal Reserve said it would halt further Truth in Lending Act rulemaking on three proposed rules related to residential mortgages.

Buyers have purchased 425 condominium units a month in the tri-county South Florida area since the real estate boom began in 2003, according to the latest report from the Bal Harbour-based consulting firm CondoVultures.

The Small Business Administration on Tuesday officially asked the Federal Reserve to postpone the April 1 implementation date of its loan officer compensation rule, saying the central bank did not provide "sufficient" or "proper" guidance for small mortgage firms and loan brokers to comply with the new requirements.

A 'qualified residential mortgage' rule which does not include a mandate for mortgage insurance will not necessarily harm the MI industry, according to a new report from FBR Capital Markets.

Commercial real estate executives are now viewing their industry more favorably and expect slightly improved market conditions this year, according to an index compiled by the Real Estate Roundtable.

Nearly 45% of banks surveyed by the Federal Reserve increased their holdings of single-family loans in the second-half of 2010 – and half are now forecasting they will increase their holdings even more as the year progresses.

Fannie Mae has added an expanded multifamily mortgage-backed securities execution that will allow DUS Mega deals to be syndicated and managed by broker-dealers with the aim of offering them in issuance sizes similar to DUS REMICs.

Given all the trouble the mortgage broker industry has been through in the past three years, if a loan officer went up to his or her friends and told them he or she was opening up their own shop, the LO would get back a very puzzled look at best.

Technology Credit Union, San Jose, this week launched a new super jumbo product, offering borrowers a 30-year fixed rate loan on balances of up to $3 million.

To help more underwater borrowers, Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has introduced a bill that requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop charging high fees on refinancings of guaranteed mortgages with high loan-to-value ratios.

WASHINGTON—The Mortgage Bankers Association is worried that federal regulators will set tough underwriting standards along with a large downpayment requirement in defining “qualified residential mortgages” that are exempt from pending risk retention rules.

The residential mortgage division of Ally Financial earned $123 million in the fourth quarter, a slight decline from 3Q but a major improvement over the same period last year when it lost $3.3 billion.

The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry is ready for federally insured banks, thrifts and credit unions to register their loan officers, according to federal and state regulators.

Impac Mortgage Holdings, a nonbank and former alt-A lender that survived the housing bust, has big plans for the future: not only does it plan to fund $1.2 billion in loans this year, it's anticipating that 80% of it will come from loan brokers.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded 759 speculative grade bonds in 405 nonconforming U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities transactions to “Dsf,” indicating they have taken principal writedowns.

December was the best month of 2010 for private mortgage insurance companies in terms of primary new insurance written, and the second worst of the year in terms of the cure/default ratio.

The 'Great Recession' and housing bubble have taken their toll on U.S. home owners. According to government figures released Monday morning, the nation's overall home ownership rate fell to 66.5% in the fourth quarter, the lowest reading since 1998.

The U.S. Attorney General is investigating alleged violations of regulations that protect active-duty military personnel from high mortgage interest rates and foreclosures.