More homebuyers opted for adjustable-rate mortgages as interest rates increased during 2013, although most of these loans remain in portfolio. ARMs accounted for 11.7 percent of mortgage originations in the third quarter of 2013, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, up from a share of 9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2012. Quarterly originations of ARMs have stayed relatively steady in recent years and hit $54 billion in the third quarter of 2013. But ARMs remain relatively rare in [Includes two data charts]

Even though regulatory scrutiny is sure to intensify in the new mortgage lending ecosystem crafted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tightening margins and a declining originations market are expected to tempt more lenders to turn to outsourcing as a coping method. Would-be providers are stepping up to the opportunity. The latest to do so is Freedom Mortgage Corp., a privately-held mortgage lender based in Mt. Laurel, NJ. The company this week launched its ...

In mortgage banking, logic dictates that when loan production drops dramatically – as it has the past four months – originators cut back on compensation. But that isn’t stopping some lenders from offering huge signing bonuses to top performers. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Trends, a few nonbank lenders are paying hefty bonuses to lure certain loan officers away from their current employers. One nonbank lender based in California reportedly paid a $1 million signing bonus recently ...

Significant investments in mortgage servicing rights appear to have paid off for Two Harbors Investment, a real estate investment trust. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is also turning profits due to MSRs, servicing and a correspondent operation. Two Harbors this week reported net income of $239.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, rebounding from a net loss of $192.7 million in the previous quarter, both based on generally accepted accounting principles. During the fourth quarter, Two Harbors ...

Mortgage products offered by lenders haven’t changed much since the 1930s and are in a primitive stage, according to Robert Shiller, an economist who helped develop the Case-Shiller home price index. In a new paper published by Yale University’s Cowles Foundation for research in economics, Shiller pushes for greater innovation in the mortgage industry. He is currently a professor at Yale and for years has advocated a product he developed, “continuous workout mortgages,” to no avail ...

Two pages of data showing the top 30 sellers of agency mortgages in 2013 with a break-out for each lender listing average credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, loan-to-value ratios, loan size, purchase-mortgage share and refinance share. All characteristics are shown for the origination channel (retail, correspondent and broker) at each lender.

January 2014 marked the fourth month in a row where combined agency securitization included more purchase-money mortgages than refinances, according to Inside MBS & ABS.

Some 18 lenders contributed to the security, all of which were disclosed – somewhat uncommon for jumbo MBS.

Also, the CFPB is considering requiring more underwriting and pricing information, such as the interest rate, total origination charges, and discount points.

Among other issues, the GAO found that for three of the servicers, their denial rates were significantly higher for Hispanics than for the comparison population of non-Hispanic whites.