Thanks to rising loan applications and a stronger-than-anticipated start to the second quarter, merger and acquisition activity in the mortgage industry is at muted levels these days, according to investment banking officials. In other words, lenders will continue to “make hay while the sun shines,” believing that current profit margins are just too good right now to consider selling out. It was originally thought...

The publicly traded servicer/originator took in $330.7 million in revenue, a 35.2 percent decline from 1Q15. Its origination revenue was a meager $23.2 million…

Comments are due on Friday from working group members that have been participating in the effort.

Molly Boesel, a senior economist at CoreLogic, noted that in judicial states, servicers must provide evidence of delinquency to the courts in order to move a borrower into foreclosure.

Quicken Loans, for example, reported a 4.9 percent increase in total originations compared to 4Q15. An estimated 81.0 percent of the nonbank’s production in 2015 was refinance loans…

In after-hours trading Wednesday, its share price was down 20 percent to $2.25.

Blackstone continues to expand its presence in the mortgage industry on several fronts. In late January, it bought Interactive Mortgage Advisors, a Denver-based servicing advisory firm.

State regulators have been particularly concerned about growth in recent years by nonbank servicers such as Ocwen Financial, the largest subprime servicer. Ocwen, of course, is now shrinking.

On the subject of delayed closings, one agent had this to say: “All of my closings are taking two to four weeks longer to close, and there has been a lot of confusion…”

Sig Anderman’s once small firm is now worth more than Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management Corp. combined.