Top commercial banks reported substantial increases in mortgage production during the second quarter, but mortgage-banking income was lagging, according to a new analysis of earnings reports by Inside Mortgage Trends. In aggregate, the five large banks reported $124.25 billion in mortgage originations for the second quarter, a hefty 30.1 percent increase from the first three months of the year. At the high end, Wells Fargo said its mortgage ... [Includes one data chart]

Lenders operating in the consumer-direct channel have a distinct opportunity to use technology to improve the mortgage experience for borrowers, according to findings from the Strategic Mortgage Finance Group. Garth Graham, a senior partner at the firm more commonly referred to as Stratmor, detailed the findings in a new publication from the mortgage-industry consulting firm. The Stratmor executive suggested that consumer-direct lenders should work with technology that ...

Unemployment and negative equity have a large influence on a household’s decision to default on their mortgage, but a study by a team of government economists and academics has found that most financially distressed households manage to keep current on their loan. Another surprising finding by the study “Can’t Pay or Won’t Pay? Unemployment, Negative Equity, and Strategic Default” is that strategic defaulters are few and rare despite the publicity they get ...

Underwater borrowers are regaining equity, student loan debt is increasing, and FHA may be losing revenue due to decreasing recovery rates, according to the latest report from Black Knight Financial Services. Data as of the end of May 2016 indicate that 425,000 underwater borrowers are breathing easier as usable equity rose by $260 billion in the first quarter of 2016, thanks to improving housing prices, the report said. This translates into a 6 percent increase in ...

When origination volume begins growing rapidly, as it appears to have in the second quarter, lenders often ramp up their third-party origination platforms rather than beef up their retail production capacity. According to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of agency mortgage-backed securities data, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $156.23 billion of TPO loans during the second quarter, a 32.2 percent increase over the previous ... [Includes one data chart]

Large depository institutions continued to let their servicing portfolios of loans pooled in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities slowly decline in the second quarter of 2016. A new Inside The GSEs analysis shows that banks, thrifts and credit unions still accounted for the lion’s share of GSE MBS servicing at the end of June. Depositories serviced $2.778 trillion of Fannie and Freddie single-family loans tied to MBS, or 66.6 percent of the total market. But that was down 0.9 percent from the previous quarter during a period when the total servicing of GSE single-family MBS edged slightly higher. Nonbanks, however, .... [includes two charts]

This week, the Republicans adopted their official platform and called the GSE conservatorship a “corrupt” way of doing business. The GOP said the Great Recession devastated the housing market and caused taxpayers to pay billions of dollars to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They blame Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration for preventing efforts to reform the GSEs since they’ve been in conservatorship. “Their corrupt business model lets shareholders and executives reap huge profits while the taxpayers cover all loses,” the platform said. While vague in taking a stance on what should be done with Fannie and Freddie, the platform simply stated that the utility of both agencies should be “reconsidered.”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency remains resistant to taking on Property-Assessed Clean Energy loans despite this week’s announcement that the FHA will allow PACE loans.PACE programs provide financing for home energy improvements and water conservation, repaid through an assessment added to the property’s tax bill. FHA’s new guidance addresses state programs where the PACE obligation is treated like a property tax with priority over an FHA mortgage lien.However, like other mortgage industry critics of PACE loans, FHFA Director Mel Watt, said he continues to have “serious concerns” with how PACE programs are financed.

Trade groups and a long list of Congressmen are crying foul and urging the Federal Housing Finance Agency to not include a question asking borrowers’ language preference on its new Uniform Residential Loan Application. The FHFA, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are considering adding the question as a last- minute addition to the URLA. However, in June, nine trade groups, including the American Bankers Association, Consumer Mortgage Coalition and Mortgage Bankers Association, wrote FHFA Director Mel Watt to voice their concerns, many of which focused on compliance and discrimination issues. They argued that a language preference question requires lenders to ask borrowers sensitive questions before...

Last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency released a map highlighting eligible borrower locations for its principal-reduction program and instructed servicers to begin soliciting borrowers. The interactive map highlights where the most eligible borrowers are located for its new principal reduction option for loan modifications. The number of borrowers eligible to take advantage of the program has declined some. When it was announced in April, the FHFA estimated that 33,622 borrowers would be eligible, but it has since lowered that estimate to 30,000. The FHFA attributes the reduction to a “continuously evolving housing market” that may have improved in some areas.