Originations

For the third week in a row mortgage application volume increased as refinance apps have reached their highest level since the start of December, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Sales may be down, starts may be off, but the nation's privately-held home builders still managed to eke out a profit last year.

Financial concerns are paramount for homebuyers 55 years old and older, replacing design considerations, a study from the National Association of Home Builders and the MetLife Mature Market Institute found.

Citigroup reported single-family mortgage originations of $21.8 billion in the fourth quarter, up 17% from the prior period.

The share of adjustable-rate mortgages will rise to 9% of the home purchase market later this year, up from 7% at the current time and 3% in early 2009, according to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft. This was among the findings of the company's 27th annual ARM survey.

The overall economy has moved from a fragile recovery to firmer, less volatile growth, but the housing market is not expected to grow accordingly until 2012, according to the latest Fannie Mae economic outlook.

Lenders repo-ed almost as many properties in South Florida last year than in the previous two years combined, according to a new report.

It may be a new year, but home builders continue to feel that the housing market has very few bright signs, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reading.

Even though Nancy Friedman is known as the Telephone Doctor, she has come out with a list of ground rules for customer service that are to be applied whether or not a client comes in the door or calls in.

CMG Mortgage Services is becoming one of an increasingly rare breed: a nonbank lender with strong growth and a franchise model that relies on both retail lending and loan brokers.

Originators are getting help through technology for their promotional campaigns.To help them get the most out of their marketing dollars, mortgage originators are being presented with new tools that let them have better information about prospects as well as new ways to reach them.

TALLAHASSEE, FL—How bad is the real estate market in Florida? More than 30,000 mortgage industry professionals appear to be missing in action.It’s impossible to tell whether they are prisoners of the housing war, or simply gone off to the great mortgage office in the sky.

Although Las Vegas is located in the middle of a Nevada desert, the town is under water when it comes to housing values. But that doesn't mean home buyers aren't spending big money there. It just means they aren't spending what they used to.

Mortgage lenders of all sizes are expected to increase their technology spending by 15% this year to $4.11 billion, according to the new MORTECH study.

Like many in the mortgage industry, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are projecting a decline in originations in 2011, the result of refinance activity declining after many borrowers refinanced to the historically low rates of 2009 and 2010.

A number of commercial real estate experts are predicting 2011 will be a year of recovery for that business, continuing on trends that developed at the end of 2010.

Home sales and prices could register a small increase in 2011, but there is a downside risk that foreclosures could overwhelm buyer demand, sending values down, according to a panel of economists from some of the nation's largest banks.

State Bank & Trust of North Dakota has completed its purchase of Bell Mortgage, a 130-year-old residential lender based in Minneapolis. No purchase price was disclosed.

NexBank Capital Inc., a Dallas-based thrift-holding company, has raised $10 million in additional capital which will be used to support growth in its commercial lending business.

Commercial real estate lender FundCore Finance Group is teaming up with Cohen & Co., an investment banking firm based in New York to form a CRE conduit lender. The venture will start funding loans in the first quarter.