Improved production efficiency and a favorable outcome on hedges for mortgage servicing rights helped drive a significant increase in mortgage banking profits during the second quarter. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that average net pretax income jumped 55.7 percent from the first quarter to $3.50 million in the second. That was the best pretax income figure since the first quarter of 2013, when the average in the MBA quarterly performance survey was ...
When autumn rolls around, most mortgage firms begin paring staff where they can and start focusing on what lies ahead for the new year. But this time around – thanks to the recent drop in rates – cost-cutting measures may be put on hold, at least for a little while. One area where there could be a spate of new hiring is in senior management positions. Rick Glass, who runs the mortgage recruiting firm RT Glass & Associates, Carmichael, CA, said his phone ...
Declines in negative equity and improvements to the economy have prompted a shift in the types of loan modifications offered by servicers. Industry analysts have raised concerns that the increased reliance on capitalization loan mods could lead to an increase in defaults. With a capitalization mod, servicers add unpaid mortgage interest and other costs to the unpaid loan balance and amortize the new balance, potentially with a new loan term or interest rate ...
In the years after the financial crisis, lenders have tried to limit the amount of repurchase demands from the government-sponsored enterprises by tightening underwriting requirements, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. The HFPC noted that the percentage of mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have put back to lenders due to violations of representations and warranties for originations in recent years ...
With the effective date of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule now just weeks away, industry representatives are escalating the amount of compliance advice they are offering to real estate agents and lenders. This week, the Mortgage Bankers Association released a variety of materials to facilitate complete conformity with the bureau’s pending disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ...
Fannie Mae launched the Home Purchase Sentiment Index this week to give monthly updates on the direction of the housing market from a consumers point of view. Results showed that attitudes toward the current home-selling climate have dipped back to their April 2015 level thanks to recent rising mortgage rates and economic concerns, according to Doug Duncan, Fannie’s chief economist.The index will be released on or around the seventh day of each month. The HPSI takes results from Fannie’s consumer-focused National Housing Survey to measure current attitudes toward the housing market. This index is different from other consumer economic sentiment indices because it’s devoted exclusively to housing. Fannie said it will help industry players make better informed business decisions. The GSE constructed...
Banks and thrifts repurchased $977.6 million of single-family mortgages during the second quarter of 2015, a 6.6 percent increase over the first quarter, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. Bank repurchases, which include indemnifications, totaled $1.894 billion for the first half of the year, down 1.2 percent from the first six months of 2014. Bank of America still leads the industry in buybacks with $539 million on a ... [Includes one data chart]
As they approach their eighth year in conservatorship, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generate a lot of revenue for the government and dominate the conventional-conforming mortgage market. But both GSEs are forced to hold less and less capital, and a bad quarter or two could force another round of bailouts. Aside from lawsuits by disgruntled GSE shareholders, pressure appears to be growing for a new approach that would allow the two to rebuild their capital. According to reports, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-SC, may introduce such a bill in one of the least hospitable places it could land, the House Financial Services Committee.
Freddie Mac announced changes to its mortgage modifications on Sept. 9 in hopes of allowing more borrowers to qualify for modification and lower payments. Although the changes won’t be mandated until March 1, 2016, Freddie is encouraging its servicers to implement them as early as possible. The GSE is revising the mark-to-market loan-to-value-ratio calculation for both Freddie standard and streamlined modifications, according to a letter sent to its servicers this week. The MTMLTV is used for…
The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently teamed up to release a joint technical report detailing the progress made so far in creating a National Mortgage Database. They also made a few changes including updating the sample design and merging with other data sources for more detailed information. The database has been in the works for 2.5 years but completion of the joint venture may still be a ways away. The NMDB will be a resource for research and analysis of the U.S. residential mortgage market. The database, the first mortgage data repository of its kind, according to the two agencies, includes information about the mortgage market based on a 5 percent sample of residential mortgages.
RSS