The outstanding supply of home mortgage debt – even what had been the fastest-growing sector of the market – ebbed in the first quarter of 2015. The Federal Reserve late last week reported the supply of home mortgage debt outstanding fell to $9.855 trillion as of the end of March. That was down 0.3 percent from December 2014 and reversed a modest expansion of the servicing market over the second half of last year. While banks, thrifts and credit unions managed...[Includes two data tables]
Although the negative-equity rate declined in the first quarter, more than half of underwater homeowners are far from recovering. A recent report shows more than 4 million homeowners had mortgages that were at least 20 percent more than their home’s value. With little to no chance of homes appreciating by 20 percent anytime soon, those owners would struggle to break even on a sale. This is...
Lenders have loosened downpayment requirements on conforming purchase-mortgages as part of a shift that typically occurs when the purchase market rebounds. The move toward higher loan-to-value ratios on purchase mortgages has been gradual, but industry analysts suggest it’s part of an effort by lenders to increase volume. “As lenders need more mortgage volume, average downpayments start to drop,” said Doug Lebda, CEO of LendingTree. “More lenders are beginning to loosen their guidelines and are going after a slightly broader pool of potential borrowers.” According to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database, the original LTV ratio for newly originated purchase mortgages included in mortgage-backed securities issued by the government-sponsored enterprises has...
Despite having more than 21 months to admire its new integrated disclosure rule before it went into effect, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week found an “administrative error” that would require a two-week delay for the scheduled Aug. 1 launch date. The agency decided to add another six weeks to the delay, making the new effective date Oct. 1, 2015. The CFPB said the additional time is to “accommodate the interests of many consumers and providers whose families will be busy with the transition to the new school year.” What about getting ready...
Industry observers noted that FAQs didn’t answer some of the big questions that matter to lenders, such as quality control, student debt and pre-funding review requirements.
An estimated $95.9 billion of mortgages bigger than the traditional agency loan limit were produced during the first quarter of 2015, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis reveals. Jumbo production – all single-unit mortgages with loan amounts exceeding $417,000 – was up 7.9 percent from the fourth quarter. That was slightly off the pace set in overall mortgage originations, which rose 12.9 percent from the previous quarter. Conforming-jumbo production was...[Includes three data tables]
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