IBM announced last week that it is offering a digital loan-processing platform that will allow borrowers to engage in the loan application process via a smartphone or tablet. Eric Ray, a general manager of IBM’s financial services sector, said the IBM Digital Loan Platform will help lenders connect with borrowers. “We believe delivering a transformational customer experience will differentiate future mortgage leaders from the pack,” he said. “By partnering with IBM, lenders can out-maneuver ...

Large parts of the Bay Area and Southern California qualify for the top high-cost limit, while other California markets such as San Diego ($546,250) and Sacramento ($474,950) have intermediate high-cost limits.

CFPB director Richard Cordray could be softening somewhat in response to the mortgage industry’s plea for regulatory enforcement relief when the new rules take effect in January.

Banking regulators are showing new concerns about appraisal management companies, especially those owned by depositories.

Five Oaks Investment, a publicly traded REIT, plans to acquire mortgages from jumbo lenders on a flow and bulk basis.

The letter to members of Congress is notable for which trade groups didn't sign on, including the American Bankers Association and Mortgage Bankers Association.

Loan standards are not loosening on conventional mortgages, but in the jumbo space the story is entirely different.

A widely-expected reduction in conforming loan limits for 2014 would help the jumbo market continue to broaden its footprint in mortgage originations, but the impact would be largely confined to a handful of states, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. Jumbo production – originations of home loans that exceed varying conforming loan limits around the country – has been the brightest spot in a mortgage outlook made increasingly gloomy by rising interest rates. Non-agency jumbo originations rose 9.3 percent from the first to the second quarter, while total originations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans fell 3.8 percent. Jumbo mortgages accounted...[Includes four data charts]

Stonegate Mortgage plans to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week. Meanwhile, stock prices for other mortgage-related companies that priced IPOs this year have declined. Stonegate is unique among mortgage company IPOs this year in that it’s not a real estate investment trust. Three of the four mortgage-related IPOs that have priced in 2013 have been for REITs and the other was a nonbank affiliated with a REIT. Stonegate was founded...

Will private mortgage insurance firms continue to steal market share from the FHA? It certainly looks that way.