Production of new first-lien home loans fell sharply in the first quarter of 2018, although the market was not that far off from how it began a year ago. [Includes two data charts.]
Mel Watt has roughly eight more months remaining as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, but already the industry is beginning to worry about what possible changes his successor might make to the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The future used to look bright for Ocwen Financial and Ditech, two publicly traded nonbanks that specialized in “high touch” residential servicing. But over the past four years, both have struggled mightily with losses, regulatory sanctions and shrinking portfolios.
Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, last week agreed to pay $1 billion to settle claims that it overcharged consumers on mortgage rate-lock commitments and force placed collateral-protection insurance on auto loan customers.
The dollar volume of loans originated for fix-and-flip transactions increased by 27 percent on an annual basis in 2017, according to Attom Data Solutions, a firm that tracks sales deeds. While loan volume and market share are increasing for fix-and-flip financing, industry analysts suggest that the market is more “rational” than it was in the run up to the financial crisis.
The number of taxpayers taking the mortgage interest deduction this year will decline by more than 50 percent compared with 2017, according to new estimates from the federal government. The mortgage interest deduction will be a lot less useful due to a large increase to the standard deduction.
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