Originations

A combination of historically low interest rates and reduced competition are fattening home lenders' profit margins, making up for lost volume.

The Treasury Department, which has pumped $145 billion into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac thus far, will hold a public forum on the future of the GSEs and the nation's housing finance system in mid-August in Washington.

Bogus schemes to help troubled borrowers save their homes from foreclosure were the fastest growing source of consumer complaints in 2009, according to an annual survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America.

New Jersey mortgage bankers and brokers don't seem to be in much of a hurry to get their licensing paperwork in through the National Mortgage Licensing System and Registry, according to a recent tally done by the state Department of Banking, Insurance and Regulation.

Green Bank NA, Houston, plans to expand its lending operations in North Texas through its proposed acquisition of the Dallas branch of La Jolla Bank from its current owner, OneWest Bank FSB, Pasadena, Calif. Terms of the deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, were not disclosed.

The U.S. homeownership rate slipped below 67% in the second quarter to the lowest level since 1999 as foreclosures and high unemployment continue to take their toll on the housing market.

Maverick Funding Corp. of New Jersey has hired counsel and expects to give a complete response to Connecticut regulators on Thursday concerning reports that it did not disclose litigation against its founders — as required — when it filed for a lending application in the state.

If getting a website was the marketing buzz of the "00" decade, the marketing buzz of the "10" decade, at least at this very early stage of it, is create your social media presence.The latest to jump on the bandwagon is the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents. What this trade group is doing for its membership could be something the mortgage and ancillary services trades consider offering to their members as well.

Home prices rose 1.3% in May, the second consecutive monthly increase, according to the just released Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller house price index.

The tightening of credit standards over the past few years is making it tougher for many residential borrowers with average credit scores to get financing to purchase a house.

Only 11% of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans go to borrowers with 620-700 FICO credit scores and only 22% of the loans they buy from lenders provide purchase financing for homebuyers.

It is perplexing that something everybody agrees on can be slow to actually take place.

Mortgagebot, a Mequon, Wis., seller of electronic loan application technology, has reported some interesting results from a survey it commissioned. It found that just 18% of commercial banks are able to accept apps online, according to an article in our sister publication American Banker.

House and Senate committees have approved Department of Housing and Urban Development appropriation bills that extend the $729,750 loan limit through September 2011.

The latest key market indicators coming from California are mixed, with housing starts up but existing home sales in retreat.

New home sales jumped 24% in June after plunging 37% in May, but it was still the second weakest month on record, according to new figures released by the government.

The delinquency rate on Freddie Mac guaranteed mortgages fell to 3.96% in June, the lowest reading since November of last year.

Even asset managers who were predicting a decline in housing were stunned by the downturn that eventually ensnared corporate credit unions' balance sheets.

Many housing markets could see a stronger recovery two years from now, even though the latest forecast for the coming year shows only modest ones, according to one forecast.

Although there aren't any overwhelmingly strong appreciating forecasts in the near term, the depreciating ones are milder than they were a year ago, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions, a collateral valuation provider based in Santa Ana, Calif.

Survey finds small business marketers believe in using both to get customers.

In a sign that shows how important using the social media has become to small businesses that employ e-mail marketing, a recent survey found almost 70% of them are employing some sort of social media tactics and a majority (77%) believe that integrating e-mail marketing and social media is either "very important" or "moderately important."

AWeber Communications, an e-mail marketing software firm, conducted the survey. The respondents were 2,579 of the companies that make up the firm's clientele.

National volunteer programs and state government entities are busy working to unearth and close down "unscrupulous and unlicensed loan modification companies" who prey on financially stressed homeowners.

For example, NeighborWorks organizations around the country held more than 150 events during National NeighborWorks Week June 5-12 to inform tens of thousands of homeowners on how to avoid and report mortgage modification scams.

A new company that links small businesses to sources of capital is looking to expand its reach through a network of affiliates that includes mortgage, real estate and financial services professionals.

By becoming MyCapitalAccess "financiers," these and other pros can increase their own revenue by facilitating relationships between small, cash-strapped companies and the Miami Shores, Fla.-based company.

In that the founders of MyCapitalAccess are mortgage industry veterans, it makes sense that they are pursuing mortgage brokers to carry their flag, especially since brokers themselves are feeling the effects of the down economy and are sometimes in need of a cash infusion of their own.