Originations

MGIC Investment Corp., the No. 3 U.S. mortgage insurer, rallied after posting its largest profit since 2007, helping ease concerns that slowing home lending would weigh on results.

Mortgage applications fell for the fourth time in five weeks as fewer Americans made home purchases or refinanced their properties as borrowing costs rose.

Here are some tips on what could make your business' Facebook page a marketing success.

A new survey provides further evidence that continuing declines in mortgage origination volume have motivated lenders to ease credit standards.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to change how fees are defined for a key test to determine if a loan is a "qualified mortgage," according to observers.

Sales of previously owned homes fell in March for the third consecutive month as rising prices and cold weather discouraged would-be buyers.

The Senate GSE reform bill may bloat the bureaucracy, encourage risky behavior and expose taxpayers to losses, without sufficient support for affordable housing. That could still be better than nothing.

More than half of consumers who don't own homes but want to are not bothering to check whether they could qualify for loans because they fear rejection, a survey finds.

A powerful group of shareholders is amplifying attacks on housing finance reform legislation as they await resolution of a major legal battle, attempting to slow momentum on the bill before it likely passes the Senate Banking Committee.

The proposed Small Lender Mutual cooperative would be expensive for small firms to capitalize, and its securities may get inferior pricing compared to those issued by large banks and nonbanks.

While there are compliant ways to institute these plans, many employers make the mistake of having several "buckets" that vary by a few basis points.

Last week, I was particularly gratified by the number of people who not only read my commentary regarding why the closing table is so critical to driving conversion, but actually provided specific examples of how it's impacted their business.

Real estate executives are looking for ways to motivate reluctant buyers who don't want to give up their current low mortgage rates.

There are things mortgage originators can learn from the pop singer regarding how to market your company and yourself.

Mortgage rates fell, sending costs for 30-year loans to the lowest since early February as the Federal Reserve confirmed its commitment to provide support for the economic recovery.

B of A caught observers off guard by announcing $6 billion in mortgage litigation expenses, but the move is an attempt to convince analysts and investors that there is an end in sight to its crisis-era legal woes. It just might work.

As drafted, the Johnson-Crapo bill would allow big banks to originate, aggregate, and guarantee mortgages. Small lenders worry such vertically integrated companies could price them out of the business.

If it wasn't a malicious attack, what else could have overwhelmed the mortgage loan origination software vendor's servers at a time when originations are in the doldrums?

Mortgage applications, including requests for refinancings and for home purchase loans, rose from the previous week for the week ended April 11.

As homeowners regain equity in their properties and interest rates continue to increase, equity-financed home improvements will likely become more attractive to borrowers than short sales, home purchasing or refinancing.