Downpayment requirements play a larger role than interest rates in whether a potential borrower can afford a mortgage, according to new research from staff at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Potential borrowers who are less wealthy are particularly sensitive to downpayment requirements. Andreas Fuster and Basit Zafar, senior economists at the NY Fed, designed a survey in which respondents are asked for their maximum willingness to pay for a home comparable to their current home ...

The key factor is that some mortgage originators, the megabanks especially, are keeping conventional loans in portfolio that might otherwise be securitized by Fannie and Freddie.

According to Inside Mortgage Finance, among the top 15 jumbo originators eight are nonbanks.

The data to be reported under the CFPB’s proposal likely will inflame the current fair lending regulatory environment.

Rep. Ed Royce of California: "Money coming in from the GSEs should go to the taxpayers instead of a slush fund for ideological housing groups to play around with.”

New Penn also reorganized its origination channels, consolidating wholesale and correspondent, while adding a mini-correspondent business line.

A proposed FHA administrative fee as high as 4 basis points to fund quality assurance enforcement and technology upgrades also went down in flames.

Jumbo mortgage lending and securitization remained one of the bright spots in the home-loan business during the third quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. A total of $81.8 billion in mortgages exceeding the traditional $417,000 conforming loan limit were produced during the third quarter, up 15.4 percent from the second quarter of 2014. Total mortgage originations were up 11.3 percent over the same period. Total jumbo activity included...[Includes three data charts]

Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest nonbank lender, recently offered a lender-paid mortgage insurance “sale” through loan brokers, committing $100 million to the effort and wrapping up the promotion in roughly 60 hours. According to Tod Highfield, vice president of loan production at Quicken, the sale wasn’t designed to hit any volume targets per se, but was meant to heighten the firm’s profile among certain segments of the origination market, namely brokers, credit unions and community banks. The offer was pitched...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week officially announced 97 percent loan-to-value ratio programs to a mixed industry response. Fannie’s low-downpayment option will be available through its MyCommunityMortgage program, as well as for refinances and other non-MCM mortgages. Freddie will offer its 3 percent downpayment product as a purchase or no-cash-out refinance in its Home Possible Advantage program. The biggest difference between the two is...