Originations

A subsidiary of homebuilder Lennar Corp. completed its first closing of a real estate fund to invest in distressed real estate assets.

The National Association of Realtors is feeling somewhat hopeful about the commercial real estate market, projecting that vacancy rates in the non-residential sector will improve in the coming year.

Three industry groups are urging the Federal Reserve Board to postpone implementation of new mortgage disclosures that are scheduled to go into effect January 30.

The chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. warned that if left unchecked, rising government debt could rise to 185% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2035.

I travel nationwide as a sales consultant and trainer, working with individuals and companies to improve sales performance. I’ve also performed brain surgery. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.I have a fascination with the human brain. Scientists have done “mind mapping” determining where neurological functions are performed yielding information relating to improvement and repair. The next logical step for me, as I saw it, was to perform brain surgery.

Housing is in the middle of a “lost decade,” said a market research firm, with loan volume under $1 trillion for 2011 and slow growth expected between 2012 and 2015.Des Moines, Iowa-based iEmergent projects origination volume between $904 billion and $991 billion next year, below the $996 billion economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association predicted for 2011.

Third-party originators will be able to purchase fidelity and professional indemnity insurance, a product normally only available to large mortgage banks, an executive with the agency marketing the product said.Thus far the coverage is available only in California, said Greg Schroeder, president of Comergence Compliance Marketing, and it is being sold through Comergence Insurance Solutions.

National house prices will continue to decline through the first half of 2011, but local markets will experience varying degrees of decreases, according to Moody's Analytics.

Even though it’s called a mortgage, reverse loans are a very different product compared to their traditional, or forward, counterparts. That means lenders have unique technology needs that software developers provide to the space.

First we would like to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving. We hope you get to spend some time with family and friends over the holiday weekend. OK, let’s say it—this year has been a struggle for some and a decent one for others. The reasons for that we’ll discuss in future articles as they are many and varied.

New home sales slid 8.1% in October from the previous month but some are forecasting that builders will see a rebound in sales next near.

Mortgage application volume increased by 2.1% over last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, as a gain in purchase applications to their highest level since spring more than made up for a decline in refinance applications to their lowest point since the start of the summer, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The ups and downs seen in rate-indicative bond yields over the course of the holiday-shortened week netted out to relative stability in average weekly mortgage rates, according to Freddie Mac's primary market survey.

Moody's Investors Service Tuesday afternoon downgraded its ratings on 272 tranches of payment option ARM MBS issued by Countrywide Financial Corp. In total, $19.1 billion of securities are affected.

BlackRock Inc. hopes to purchase upwards of $250 million of jumbo loans each quarter with an eye toward securitizing the product.

When Bank of America said it was exiting the wholesale channel in early October, all looked bleak for loan brokers, which depend on such firms. After all, if the nation's No. 3 ranked table funder is getting out, that's not a good sign, or so went the conventional thinking.

Greg Ousley wants to be a chaperone of sorts for the secondary mortgage market. The chief executive of Global Debt Registry says his company's system, which was designed to track ownership of delinquent credit card debts, can improve upon the widely used Mortgage Electronic Registration System.

Commercial banks and savings institutions originated $162 billion of single-family loans through retail outlets in the third quarter, a 22% jump from 2Q, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Sales of existing homes fell in October to an annual rate of 4.43 million units, a small decline from the prior month, but a 26% plunge from the same month a year ago, according to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors.

Freddie Mac purchased $39.6 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in October, flat from the previous month, but a 23% jump from the same period a year ago.