Originations

Mortgage rates are now hovering just above their low point for the year, according to Freddie Mac.

New rules have made it more challenging to originate mortgages without drawing attention from regulators. Mercantile Bank in Michigan, however, believes that positive trends in its biggest markets are incentive enough to hire lenders and improve its systems.

Social Finance Inc., whose loan originations have been concentrated in the non-qualified mortgage space, will now offer conforming products after receiving Fannie Mae seller/servicer approval.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Wednesday it had raised a cap on the amount of multifamily loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy from lenders, boosting it to $35 billion effective immediately.

Freddie Mac's second quarterly loss in less than a year makes it clear profitability is getting tougher as it shrinks. But it's a concern that must be weighed against more long-term efforts to reduce Freddie's overall credit risk exposure.

Mortgage applications dipped 3.4% from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The mortgage upstarts that transformed the industry after the U.S. housing crash are now facing their own shakeout.

At least one banker has gone public with expectations that the OCC will force his institution to hold more capital. More could soon follow.

Home prices continued to increase nationwide in March, led by double-digit percent gains in Western states, according to the CoreLogic.

Posting educational videos on YouTube and social media helped Cherry Creek Mortgage's Kelly Zitlow land a spot on Lifetime Network's "Designing Spaces." The unique opportunity let her share knowledge about mortgages and extended her marketing reach.

Amalgamated Bank in New York has started offering down payment insurance to homebuyers in a move it hopes will set it apart with highly mobile millennial borrowers.

A downturn in origination volume, offset in part by improved gain-on-sale margins, has led to a slump in mortgage banking revenue, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Home price gains across the country are reducing the positive benefits homeowners will feel from low rates, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

A healthy housing market is expected to buoy purchase mortgage volumes this year, while rising rates will put a damper on refinancing, according to a report from rating agency DBRS.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations barely budged overall during the first quarter when compared to the same period last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway expanded its bet on residential real estate as his company's Clayton unit acquired Goodall Homes.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending April 29.

Mortgage software provider Ellie Mae reported a dip in net income as a result of increased sales, marketing and research expenses that outweighed revenue gains.

Misrepresentations on mortgage applications have inched up nationwide for the first time since July, thanks in part to trends in the energy and agricultural sectors which are creating pressure in the South, according to First American Financial Corp.

Arch Capital had a 77% increase in the mortgage insurance segment's operating income, and its U.S. unit saw its new insurance written increase by 34%.