Rising home values and mortgage interest rates drove down nationwide housing affordability in the second quarter, while a projected slowdown in labor force growth suggests weaker future housing activity, various industry analyses indicate. In its latest home price analysis, CoreLogic reported an 11.9 percent year-over-year increase in June 2013 for home prices nationwide, including distressed loans. This represents the 16th consecutive monthly increase in home prices [Includes one data chart] ...

If you're looking for a g-fee bargain, Freddie Mac is offering deals. Well, sort of.

Michael Chan, vice president of ComplianceEase, has come up with a check-list that should be part of every lender's due diligence effort.

FBR notes that a key provision in the draft QRM rule is that any mortgage securitized by Fannie or Freddie is automatically a QRM.

Cole Taylor Mortgage is talking to several semi-finalists that want to buy the company. Meanwhile, it's business as usual at the bank-owned lender.

The FHA has consulted with the CFPB regarding the impact of faulty TILA disclosures, which could spell trouble for the industry.

PennyMac is once again stepping up to the NPL plate with some major deals. Meanwhile, cash-out refis continue to dwindle.

Residential mortgage production remained fairly strong in the second quarter thanks to an increase in retail-channel originations, which reached an all-time high of 64.6 percent in market share, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The surge in retail production appears largely tied to ongoing strength in refinance activity. But lenders that are turning their attention to the purchase-mortgage market should consider that correspondents (34.8 percent) and brokers (22.0 percent) had higher concentrations of purchase loans than retail producers (19.3 percent) during the second quarter, based on Fannie/Freddie activity. Wells Fargo, as usual, continued...[Includes five data charts]

Last week, SunTrust and PNC separately disclosed they are being investigated by agencies of the federal government over some of their mortgage practices as the drive continues to bring enforcement actions in the wake of the financial crisis. For SunTrust, the U.S. government is probing whether it properly processed borrowers’ loan-modification applications under the Home Affordable Modification Program. SunTrust Mortgage “has been cooperating...

The warehouse lending market continued to hum along in the second quarter, but executives in charge of extending credit to nonbank mortgage lenders are beginning to see certain warning signs, including lower profit margins. “Profits are definitely tightening,” said Chuck Mueller, president and CEO of Fidelity Bank, Edina, MN, a one-branch bank whose forte is warehouse lending. Some executives note...[Includes one data chart]