New non-agency MBS settlements and issuance.

Profits on originations by independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks declined in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Home loan-related consumer delinquencies, including those having to do with home equity lending, dropped across the board in the fourth quarter, the first time in a year, according to new data released Tuesday by the American Bankers Association.

Twenty state regulators adopted uniform tests for mortgage loan originators on Monday, easing compliance for MLOs doing business in multiple states. State testing has been required since 2009 due to the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act.

Inside MBS & ABS found big gains in the securitization of most commercial property types, including a huge surge in mortgages on hotels and motels.

Fannie Mae may be having second thoughts about selling nonperforming loans into the secondary market where cash-rich investors are waiting with bated breath.

Two banks re-entered the non-agency mortgage-backed security market in late March after years of holding such originations in portfolio. JPMorgan Chase issued a $616.26 million non-agency jumbo MBS and EverBank Financial is set to issue a $307.36 million non-agency jumbo security. The banks join Redwood Trust, which was the only non-agency jumbo MBS issuer in 2010 and 2011, and Credit Suisse, which resumed non-agency jumbo MBS issuance in 2012. The banks issued non-agency jumbo MBS even though they ...

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp., a provider of special niche products, has announced plans to push more mainstream FHA/VA and Fannie Mae products through its wholesale broker channel. The plan is to add the popular Home Affordable Refinance Program, loans backed by the Rural Housing Service, and the FHA and VA streamline refinancing programs to the current wholesale menu of manufactured home loans and 203(k) home rehabilitation and repair loans. “We’d like our wholesale side to be better-rounded and so we’re ...

The use of premium pricing to induce more borrowers to opt for FHA streamline refinancing may be a boon for FHA borrowers but clearly a bane for investors in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, according to Barclays Research analysts. There are indications that more FHA lenders are resorting to premium pricing, in which borrowers pay a higher mortgage rate in return for lowering the cost of obtaining the loan. Its use seems to be increasing, which also raises the risk of Ginnie Mae prepayments, said ...

Mortgage companies are starting to use predictive modeling and better data and analytics to target homeowners who are moving with the right message at the right time in the move cycle. With the use of direct mail, companies can reach movers before they purchase a new mortgage, the thinking goes. Data and analytics company Target Data, a privately held firm based in Chicago, uses proprietary technology to aggregate housing data (more than 70 million records a week), which it uses to predict if ...