In general, mortgage-related earnings were strong at the nation's banks in the second quarter, but clearly earnings "leakage" is underway. And yes, gain-on-sale is starting to slip.
The Fed chief told elected officials that whatever housing finance reform plan they choose to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it should be clear to private investors about the governments role in the market.
You would think that a bank with a small presence in mortgages would jump at the opportunity to keep the fast-growing residential arm of a merger partner. But thats not the case with MF Financial, a mid-sized bank that earlier in the week announced that it would buy Taylor Capital, parent of Cole Taylor Bank, in a stock deal valued at $680 million. Although MF Financial took a close look at the subsidiary, Cole Taylor Mortgage, it decided that the unit is not essential to the deal. In fact, its so non-essential ...
With interest rates increasing, some new borrowers have turned to adjustable-rate mortgages. Industry analysts expect the ARM share of originations will increase, but limited product offerings and tight underwriting standards will likely prevent the ARM originations from reaching levels seen during the previous mortgage boom. The record low interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages in recent years have given borrowers few reasons to take ARMs. Interest rates on mortgages have increased significantly recently ...