Originations

The housing and mortgage markets were hit with yet another blast of ugly news Wednesday morning with new home sales falling 12.4% in July and the Mortgage Bankers Association reporting that purchase money loans now account for just 17.6% of all new loan applications.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to a new yearly low Wednesday morning — 2.42% — after yet another disappointing report on home sales.

Although new home sales so far this year have been off substantially from a year ago, several large public builders have managed to boost their sales, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.

The Federal Reserve Board's compensation rule is expected to reduce the use of yield-spread premiums, but that doesn't seem to bother the mortgage brokers.

After four consecutive months of increased sales, the Houston market hit the skids in July, according to the local Realtor group.

Some of my friends who work for public relations firms probably won't like this column too much. But in an era where small businesses need to look after every dime they spend, including the dimes they spend on marketing, being able to do some of your own PR work is important.

Sales of single-family existing homes plummeted 27% in July from the previous month as the expiration of homebuyer tax credit sucked all the oxygen out of the market. The sales reading was the worst in 15 years.

WASHINGTON-Since May, the Rural Housing Service has been offering conditional loan commitments to lenders, but few are willing to bite anymore.

New home sales in California slipped again in June, according to the latest report from the state's builders.

California's Realtors have called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign legislation that extends -- in a narrowed manner -- the state's protections against deficiency judgments to homeowners who have refinanced their properties.

As part of its disposal of U.S. consumer banking businesses, HSBC Holdings PLC is shopping HSBC Mortgage Corp. around. As with many yard sale offerings, the property's attractiveness is up for debate.

The expansion-minded MetLife Home Loans has hired two former executives from Sovereign Bank to manage its new warehouse lending division, National Mortgage News has learned.

A Fitch upgrade of Bank of America's stock is tempered by the depository's high level of non-performing loans and the potential for large numbers of mortgage repurchases due to representation and warranty issues.

While the call for the creation of a catastrophic insurance fund for mortgage-backed securities has been gaining ground in recent weeks, two leading Federal Reserve Board economists are poised to push the concept one step further, suggesting a backstop for all asset-backed securities.

A Houston mortgage brokerage firm with 200 branches nationwide said it agreed to pay a $38,000 fine to settle alleged violations of Federal Housing Administration branching rules.

Sunmark FCU, Schenectady, N.Y., has introduced a new mortgage product that will allow borrowers throughout the region to use their home equity to secure a 3.99% loan.

Jess Lederman, who a few months ago left Kinecta Federal Credit Union, is now heading up Great Western, a mortgage affiliate of Frontier Bank FSB, Park City, Utah.

MILFORD, CT-The TMS Funding wholesale division that Internet retail lender Total Mortgage Services expanded from a small test group to 17 states last month plans to continue to grow gradually but serve brokers efficiently using paperless processing once they sign on.

Taking marketing ideas from elsewhere, whether in the mortgage field or somewhere else, can keep you ahead of the competition, one expert says. For many mortgage originators, brainstorming to find that next big marketing idea is confined to whatever ideas the people in his or her shop come up with.

The expansion of loan modification efforts from government programs into non-government ones may make a marginally positive impact on housing and mortgage market recovery by improving credit scores.