The default risk index for securitized agency purchase mortgages rose to a new high in January, the fifth straight month of a steady increase in the composite National Mortgage Risk Index, according to the American Enterprise Institute. The NMRI increased to 11.97 percent, a 0.4 percentage point increase from the average default risk in fourth quarter last year and 0.8 percentage points up year over year. Data also indicated...

Commercial banks and thrifts earned $3.54 billion from their mortgage-banking activities during the fourth quarter of 2014, down 23.9 percent from the previous quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. That was only slightly better than the $3.35 billion banks earned during the first quarter of 2014. For the year, the industry generated $16.41 billion in mortgage-banking income, down 36.3 percent from 2013. Last year was the second-worst year since the financial crisis in 2008; the worst was 2011, when Bank of America nearly sank the ship. BofA was...[Includes one data chart]

Only one lender accounted for more than 10 percent of the single-family mortgage volume completed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2014: Wells Fargo. The bank also dominates deliveries to Ginnie Mae and originations of jumbo mortgages. Wells had $180.89 billion in mortgage originations in 2014, accounting for 14.6 percent of total mortgage originations, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The bank’s share of mortgage originations declined from 18.9 percent in 2013 as refinance activity slowed and nonbanks made efforts to compete for production and servicing. Officials at Wells said...

The wholesale-broker channel was the only mortgage production arena to see increased volume in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. Brokers originated an estimated $34 billion in new home loans during the final three months of 2014, a gain of 6.3 percent from the previous quarter. The wholesale-broker channel gradually recovered from a disastrous first quarter, when brokers saw their market share slide to just 9.0 percent. By the end of the year, it was up to 10.0 percent. The broker channel generated...[Includes four data charts]

The fourth quarter was Nationstar’s worst production quarter of the year.

However, the broker channel generated $117 billion of new originations, the lowest reading since 1995.

CMG Mortgage is the top contributor to the jumbo MBS with a 14.3 percent share, followed by EverBank Financial (8.3 percent) and Bridgeview Bancorp (5.7 percent).

Walter's cash-flow declined noticeably: For the full year, revenues came in at $1.5 billion, a decline of $315.3 million or 17 percent...

Closing delays related to appraisals, title search, insurance and property inspections have all increased in terms of market share in recent months, led by appraisal issues.

Although Walter Investment Management lost a ton of dough in 2014, it sees brighter days ahead...