The whole-loan trading market has become more dynamic as more loan originators get approval to sell directly to the agencies while still having the option to deal with aggregators, industry insiders said during a panel at the recent secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. “It’s an over-saturated market for correspondent buyers,” said Michael Quinn, executive vice president for correspondent products at PennyMac Financial. There are about ...

Large losses suffered by nonbank mortgage companies in the first quarter of 2016 have contributed to concerns about the companies’ ability to fund their operations. In a report published last week, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch noted that mortgage servicing rights are the primary assets for nonbank servicers. Low interest rates have prompted markdowns to MSRs under generally accepted accounting principles. “Lower MSR valuations ... [Includes one data chart]

Commercial banks and savings institutions reported a sharp decline in mortgage-banking income during the first quarter of 2016, according to a new analysis of call-report data by Inside Mortgage Trends. In aggregate, banks earned $3.31 billion on mortgage banking during the first quarter. That was down 26.8 percent from the previous period and it marked the lowest quarterly profit in nearly five years. Back in the second quarter of 2011 ... [Includes one data chart]

Private investors – and even some public ones – are maintaining a strong interest in nonagency/nonprime lenders as well as “fix-and-flip” financers, but that doesn’t always mean raising capital is easy. California Capital Real Estate Advisors, or CALCAP, has been trying to raise $100 million since late last year, but recently ended talks with an investor based in San Francisco, said company principal Mark Mozilo. Mozilo, though, hardly seems worried, telling Inside Mortgage Trends ...

Battered by a landslide of new regulations and the aftermath of an historic meltdown in the housing market, the mortgage industry also faces a dramatic shift in market demand from demographic changes and new generational attitudes. Although the overall U.S. homeownership rate has been sinking, the ownership rate for Hispanics actually went up in the fourth quarter of last year, said Marisa Calderon, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals ...

A recent closing survey of homebuyers, title agents, real estate attorneys and escrow agents by the American Land Title Association found that an increasing number of borrowers are reviewing their mortgage documents before they close on their new home under the integrated disclosure rule known as TRID. Among the findings, 92 percent of surveyed homebuyers are taking time to review their mortgage documents before the closing. “This compares to only 74 percent of ...

The rapid growth among nonbank mortgage servicers and its potentially adverse effect on consumer experience became a challenge in 2015, underscoring the importance of effective technology and the underlying systems that comprise a servicing platform, according to the latest state supervisory report on non-banks. The report by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the Multi-State Mortgage Committee (MMC) features the result of last year’s review of supervisory examinations and risk-assessment of nonbank mortgage servicers. The MMC is the oversight body responsible for the coordination and supervision of multi-state mortgage entities.

The Single Security is on target for implementation in Freddie Mac’s platform in 2017 and is set to reach the second stage in 2018, according to officials speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association secondary market conference last week. David Applegate, CEO of Common Securitization Solutions, the joint venture owned by the GSEs that is building the Common Securitization Platform, said in 2018 Fannie Mae will switch its to-be-announced business to the CSP and begin issuing Single Securities that will be fully interchangeable with Freddie Single Securities. The GSE plans to use the CSP for all of its new mortgage-backed securities issues, including non-to-be-announced products such as securities backed by adjustable-rate mortgages, said Renee Schultz, senior vice president of capital markets at Fannie.

Financing for two- to four-unit properties has become difficult since the housing crisis and Laurie Goodman, codirector of the Housing Finance Policy Center, suggests the GSEs relax the loan-to-value ratios on those properties. When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tightened LTV requirements based on higher default rates on two- to four-unit properties, Goodman said in a new report, the GSEs may have “overcorrected." Lending for these properties was 5 to 6 percent of all single-family lending prior to 2009, said Goodman, but has since fallen to 2 to 3 percent of origination share. She blames the GSEs’ current higher loan-to-value lending requirement.

Ditech and HLP Principal-Reduction Outreach. Ditech Financial and Hope Loan Port collaborated to find distressed homeowners eligible for the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s new principal- reduction modification program. The two parties said HLP’s platform “is designed to integrate HUD-approved non-profit housing counselors seamlessly and securely with Ditech’s mortgage servicing operations, enabling counselors to more easily help homeowners who may qualify for the program.” Freddie’s Third NPL Transaction of 2016. This week Freddie Mac announced a $783 million non-performing loan transaction featuring seven pools, including two extended timeline pools targeting smaller investors. The NPLs are currently serviced by Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC. FHFA Request for Comment. The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a request for comment this week for a host of technical...