The mortgage industry is banking heavily on a resurging purchase-mortgage market to help ease the pain of declining refinance volume in 2013 and beyond, and the slow start for the sector this year may be largely due to seasonal factors. Purchase-mortgage originations in the first three months of 2013 were down by 12.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. That was a considerably bigger decline than the 2.1 percent drop in refinance lending, which accounted for a hefty 76.2 percent of total mortgage originations in early 2013. But the estimated $119.0 billion in purchase-mortgage originations during the first quarter was...[Includes three data charts]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week finalized amendments to its ability-to-repay rule to revise how loan origination compensation is calculated for certain purposes. The agency also provided exemptions and modifications for small creditors, community development lenders and housing stabilization programs. The Dodd-Frank Act generally provides that points and fees on a qualified mortgages may not exceed 3 percent of the loan balance, and that points and fees in excess of 5 percent will trigger the protections for high-cost mortgages under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act. Dodd-Frank also included a provision requiring that loan originator compensation be counted toward these thresholds, even if it is not paid upfront by the consumer directly to the loan originator. The revised rule excludes...

Through the first quarter of 2013, 1.1 million borrowers have received permanent HAMP modifications, well below the 3 million to 4 million the Obama administration projected when launching the program in 2009.

The jumbo market is heating up with offerings from both EverBank and MountainView.

The estimated $119 billion in purchase-mortgage originations during the first quarter was up 15 percent over the level at the same point in 2012.

The auction market for nonperforming mortgages is beginning to generate heat with prices rising nicely from last year.

According to new FHA rules, no less than 20 percent of a lender’s required net worth must be in the form of liquid assets consisting of cash or an equivalent.

Citigroup will pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac damages for the faulty MBS it sold to them but no one knows the cost of the settlement.

Not only is HUD looking into PHH's underwriting practices, but the government has questions about the lender's foreclosure expenses.

Banks and thrifts reported $7.7 billion in mortgage banking income during the first three months of 2013, a 16 percent jump from the previous quarter.