Originations

Provident Bank in Amesbury, Mass., has entered warehouse lending after buying a business from People’s United Financial in Bridgeport, Conn.

Mortgage application activity slowed down this past week from its fast start to 2020, with a decrease of 1.2% from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

With interest rates expected to stay low while wages and the overall economy grow in conjunction, Fannie Mae again boosted its single-family mortgage origination outlook for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Mortgage loan officer compensation remained level year-over-year as an unexpected surge in originations surprised employers expecting it to be a down year, an LBA Ware report said.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Jan. 17.

Loan applications to purchase newly constructed homes rose over one-third annually during December as new residential construction recovered, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Bank of America's fourth-quarter mortgage origination volume more than doubled on a year-over-year basis, a faster pace of growth than two of its national banking peers.

Mortgage application activity increased 30.2% from one week earlier as purchases were at their highest level in over a decade along with substantial growth in refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fourth quarter gain on sale margin moved in opposite directions at two of the nation's largest banks, falling 9% quarter-over-quarter at JPMorgan Chase, but increasing 25% at Wells Fargo.

The fact that the more operationally skilled nonbanks have come to specialize in government mortgages is hardly surprising if you assess the cost to originate and service these loans.