Amherst notes that lending standards in FHA/VA programs have remained “roughly constant” with more activity gravitating toward the two programs.

The expanded Home Affordable Refinancing Program kicked into full speed during the first quarter with volumes doubling to 180,000 units compared to the prior period.

If you’re looking for a patch of brightness in the national job numbers that came out Friday morning look at the mortgage brokerage employment line: broker firms added 2,300 loan officers and other staffers to their payrolls in April.

Fannie Mae bought just $52 billion of home mortgages from its seller/servicers in April, a 45% plunge from March, according to new figures released by the GSE. Freddie Mac bought $26 billion of loans, a 39% decline from March.

Employment in the residential finance sector fell to 266,100 full-time positions in April from 267,600 in March, a difference of about 1,500 jobs.

Newly initiated foreclosures by the Federal Housing Administration jumped 247% in April from a year earlier, while the overall number of foreclosure starts fell 3.1% in the same period.

Ellie Mae’s stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has traded on the NYSE-owned American Stock Exchange since the Pleasanton, Calif.-based mortgage technology vendor’s $45 million initial public offering in April 2011.

Deloitte says that assets controlled by the shadow banking system—including asset- and mortgage-backed securities—have declined by more than 50% in the last four years, to $9.53 trillion at Dec. 31.

There are redundant quality control measures used in the third-party origination process that might be resolved if market participants could overcome compliance concerns and trust issues and agree on a neutral, secure data platform or best practices, according to a recent industry discussion.

Foreclosure-related sales made up 26% of all home sales through the first three months of 2012, up from 22% in the last quarter of 2011 and 25% seen a year ago.

The housing crisis is one of the longest lasting effects of the economic recession, with home foreclosures continuing to stain our economy. As more homes enter and remain in foreclosure, the servicer (whether on its own or on behalf of the investor) is responsible for maintaining these properties per local and state regulations. And mobile apps have added a new tool servicers can use in the field.

Picking a new loan origination system is as much about the bells and whistles that it offers as it is the realization that your company for all intents and purposes is marrying its future to the vendor chosen.

The National Association of Realtors’ leading indicator of future home sales hit a downdraft in April after three months of solid gains.

When he first came up with the concept for LenderCity Home Loans just before the turn of the century, Gregg Harris ended up being a few years ahead of his time.

Wall Street investors are demanding new data and analytics to evaluate existing and new MBS deals.

Originators have been linking loan origination systems that don’t have certain e-mortgage capabilities to everything from document management systems and e-signature technology to electronic fax-receiving automation in the slow but inexorable transition toward the e-mortgage, something that is about to take another small but significant step forward this year.

Abhinav Asthana of Wipro Gallagher Solutions discusses mobile technology security concerns.

Lenders are writing off fewer loans because consumers have improved in repaying their debt and there are fewer bankruptcies, Equifax said.

Credit quality improved in all major loan categories at commercial banks, savings banks and thrifts, except for single-family loans, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

New regulations have, and are expected to continue to impact the commercial real estate mortgage servicing industry, while process redesign and technology implementations are helping organizations improve efficiency, expand offerings and in many cases, retain staff.