Originations

Large banks could end up pocketing higher profit margins on residential mortgages this year because of a rule from the Federal Reserve that restricts the pay of brokers and loan officers.

Bank of America on Monday morning agreed to pay $2.8 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to resolve outstanding repurchase requests on loans Countrywide Financial Corp. sold to the GSEs.

Existing condominium sales in Florida were up 15% in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis, probably helped along by a 21% decrease in the price over the same period, according to data from Florida Realtors.There were 16,938 condos that changed hands in the third quarter, compared with 14,793 one year prior. The median sales price was $84,000 for the most recent period while last year it was $106,000.

We produce customer service training movies for a living. As you might imagine, many of the topics covered in our products are born as the result of actual situations that have happened to people on our development team. In that spirit, here are some service-related topics I’ve been thinking about: • Every time I leave home, it’s a visit to our research and development lab.

WASHINGTON—The Government National Mortgage Association expects the increase in its minimum net-worth requirement to $2.5 million will have a limited impact on active MBS issuers.Currently, there are roughly 300 approved issuers of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, but only 200 or so are considered active.

If the Department of Housing and Urban Development extends RESPA's reach to warehouse lending, it would severely limit the availability of funds for mortgage lending and hurt the housing recovery, according to three industry groups.

Newtek Business Services Inc. has closed on the sale of $23 million of non-guaranteed portions of SBA small business loans into a securitization trust.

Domestic real estate investment trusts may be close to fully priced, according to Principal Real Estate Investors’ 2011 commercial real estate outlook report.

PrimeSource Mortgage Inc., Roswell, NM, as part of an expansion plan has received a license to do business in Colorado.

In the wake of an internal consolidation, Fitch has affirmed Bank of America NA’s primary residential mortgage servicer rating for prime-credit loans, but downgraded slightly its primary servicer ratings for alternative-A credit loans and home equity lines of credit.

The fight to prevent and end homelessness is waged and won at the local level. And 2010 has been a watershed year in that fight. As always, this Mayors Survey report is not only helping us understand the state of homelessness in our communities, but also how they are responding.

Who is your competitor? There are three types of competitors (in the mortgage industry)—those within your company because you compare yourself to dollar amounts and closed deals.

Once a lender acquires the technology to accept Web-based mortgage applications, putting that technology to widespread use is the next step.Cutting out the step of collecting a paper application saves lenders time and money. Establishing an online channel involves upgrading websites to add the functionality or connecting to an outside provider—typically a website that’s private-labeled with the lender’s logos and integrates with its main website.

The National Association of Realtors' gauge of future home sales rose 3.5% in November after a 9.2% jump in October.

Freddie Mac’s survey for the week ending Dec. 30 shows most rates were higher on a net basis during the volatile period, but the popular 30-year is still likely to end 2010 below the year’s highs.

The high upfront fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge on certain single-family loans still do not "fully cover" all the costs and risks associated with those loan guarantees, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Edward DeMarco.

Online lending aggregator LendingTree said the average rate on its platform for a 30-year mortgage was 5.16% as of Dec. 28, down slightly from a week previous.

There’s nothing like a rapid spike in mortgage rates to send a chill through the spines of both mortgage bankers and loan applicants alike. As loan officer Ed Irwin of Kirkland, Wash., put it: “I’m a one-man shop and probably six loans that I was working on are now not interested in proceeding.”

Taxpayers claiming certain deductions, including mortgage interest deductions, will need to wait until possibly mid- to late February to claim them in order to allow the IRS to adjust its processing systems to handle recent legal changes.

HomeStreet Inc., the Seattle-based holding company for a savings bank focused on single-family mortgage originations, has further extended tender offers for all of its outstanding trust preferred securities until late February.