Major home-equity lenders continued to show little interest in the sector during the third quarter of 2012, despite signs of strengthening home values, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance market analysis and ranking. New originations of home-equity loans – including closed-end seconds and home-equity lines of credit – remained at a sluggish $14.0 billion in the third quarter, unchanged from the previous period. The HEL market in 2012 has rebounded about 5.3 percent from the pace set during the first nine months of 2011. The uptick in new HEL originations has not been...[Includes three data charts]

Warehouse commitment volumes remained strong in the third quarter as nonbanks continued to need credit to meet the surging demand for refinancing, according to new survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. The strong showing was hardly surprising, but several warehouse executives noted one new trend: a small revival in syndicated warehouse lines where several banks participate in the credit. “A year ago there were...

The distressed property share of home sales has decreased in each of the seven months ending in November, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, as short sales, real estate owned activity and investor purchases have become less prevalent. Distressed properties accounted for 33.7 percent of home sales in November, based on the three-month moving average, the lowest level seen in more than three years. Before the decline in distressed property activity, distressed property sales had hovered around 42.0 percent for more than two years. “As housing prices rise and unemployment declines, there are...

The average mortgage banking firm reported a hefty $4.12 million net profit during the third quarter of 2012, up 40.4 percent from already high earnings in the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s performance report. Although the MBA survey group – 311 companies in the latest report – varies somewhat from period to period, the third quarter earnings represent a windfall in profits that mirrors the results reported by large public companies and financial institutions ...

Upcoming changes from the Internal Revenue Service will allow for a completely paperless mortgage application process, according to industry participants. Beginning Jan. 7, the IRS will allow electronic signatures for IRS Form 4506-T, request for transcript of tax return. The electronic signatures will be allowed for tax transcripts ordered through the IRS Income Verification Express Services. “The requirement of a manual signature on the IRS 4506-T was the last significant impediment to a truly ...

In a development that might catch the attention of officials at the CFPB who are working on improving consumer disclosures under the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act and the Truth In Lending Act, more evidence has emerged that consumers aren’t very big on using TILA forms to comparison shop for mortgages.A new study from Fannie Mae found that nearly half of lower‐income respondents and more than a third of higher‐income respondents get quotes from only one mortgage lender. The survey also confirms findings in other reports that “a substantial portion of all consumers do not understand key mortgage elements.”

Originations of non-agency jumbo mortgages through three quarters in 2012 increased by 23.3 percent compared with the same period in 2011. While 12 non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities have been issued this year, jumbo originations are largely being held in portfolio by banks competing for high-quality borrowers. An estimated $148.0 billion in non-agency jumbos were originated through the first nine months of 2012, including an estimated $52.0 billion in ... [Includes one data chart]

Wells Fargo announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission recently completed an investigation of the company’s disclosures from mortgage-backed security offering documents and no enforcement action will be taken. Arcus Lending, a mortgage broker and a direct lender in California, recently started offering an 80/10/10 mortgage in an effort to allow borrowers to avoid private mortgage insurance. “There is a huge need for such a program and very few lenders ... [Includes two briefs]

The FHA is working on a statistical model that incorporates new factors to help the agency target loan-level compliance reviews and in-depth lender examinations more precisely, according to a top agency official. The model’s selection criteria is not lender-specific but focus instead on attributes in the loan file that have the highest propensity or probability of containing a material deficiency or defect that could result in a loss for the FHA insurance fund, said Justin Birch, director of the FHA Quality Assurance Division. The model was developed for post-endorsement reviews, which currently are ...

The mortgage banking industry is urging Congress to reject the FHA’s call to eliminate the existing “knew or should have known” standard in the National Housing Act in connection with an agency proposal to extend indemnification authority to all direct-endorsement lenders. Both proposals are part of legislative and administrative measures sought by the FHA to strengthen its capability to manage risk and protect its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. A recent independent actuarial review of the fund found that in FY 2012 the economic value of the FHA’s single-family portfolio had dropped to negative $13.5 billion (excluding Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans) and that ...