Wells Fargo, the biggest originator of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans, is exiting the reverse mortgage market after 20 years due to the unpredictability of property values. The departure of the San Francisco-based lender is another major blow to the wobbly HECM market already weakened by plummeting home prices. In February, Bank of America, the second largest HECM producer, announced it was quitting the reverse mortgage market to focus on other lines of business. The two institutions showed a combined ... [includes one data chart and one graph]

Even though the collapse in the mortgage market took down some bigger lenders structured as real estate investment trusts, the surviving REITs have emerged stronger and some are edging back into originations. Market capitalization for the sector has surged, from about $1.6 billion in 2000 to $36.1 billion (residential) as of May 31, 2011, according to a new report by analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. But there have been some pretty big sinkholes along the way, with Thornburg Mortgage and New Century forced to shutter their operations. Their demise represented a combined loss of...

The Mortgage Bankers Association has asked the FHA to allow the use of electronic signatures on all FHA loan origination forms to help reduce fraud and other procedural issues in the home buying process. E-signatures are already acceptable under federal law and by the FHA under certain circumstances, the MBA noted in a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The use of e-signatures helps reduce the time required to close a mortgage loan, which may lead to...

Jumbo mortgage originations held up better than the overall market in early 2011, but more of the strength in the sector came from agency programs, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Mortgage lenders originated an estimated $51.2 billion of new loans that exceeded the bench-mark $417,000 conforming loan limit during the first quarter of 2011. That was down 7.8 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, a much better showing than the 35.0 percent downturn in total mortgage originations during the same period. In fact, loans exceeding $417,000 accounted for...[includes two data charts]

Weichert Financial/Mortgage Access Corp., an agency/jumbo mortgage lender in 43 states, reached a settlement with the banking regulators of 10 states after a multi-state examination found numerous compliance and internal control deficiencies, including the use of an “interstate lending desk” to facilitate the origination or completion of mortgage applications by originators that were not licensed in the appropriate jurisdictions. “The multi-state mortgage examination program was initiated to enhance consumer protection, foster a culture of compliance within the industry, and hold...

Mortgage lenders have a number of questions about the two new prototype disclosure forms circulated for public comment recently by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but none of the issues appears to be a deal-breaker...

Jumbo mortgages accounted for 7.7 percent of new loan originations in the first quarter of 2011, the highest share for the sector since 2008. A number of correspondent lenders have also expanded their jumbo programs in 2011. Some $25.0 billion in non-agency jumbos were originated in the first quarter of 2011, according to estimates by affiliated publication Inside Mortgage Finance. That was down 16.7 percent from the previous quarter, while overall originations declined by 35.0 percent during the period. The relative strength of the jumbo market increased...[Includes one data chart]

FHA originations in April totaled $15.33 billion, down 6.7 percent from March and 28.6 percent from the same period last year, according to Inside FHA Lending’s latest ranking of the top 50 FHA lenders. Fixed-rate mortgages accounted for the bulk of originations among the top lenders at 92.2 percent, while 67.3 percent of FHA lending in April was for home purchase mortgages. In the first quarter, government-insured lending fell significantly, as did all other sectors of the single-family originations market. FHA and VA originations dropped 24.0 percent during the period. Refinance loans accounted for... [Includes one data chart]

The volume of refinance originations may have dropped significantly during the first quarter of 2011, but refi transactions continued to account for a historically high share of new business, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders originated an estimated $235 billion in refinance loans during the first three months of this year, which represented 72.3 percent of all single-family mortgage production. That was one of the highest quarterly refi market shares ever, ranking behind the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first two quarters of 2009. Refi production volume was down 40.1 percent from the end of 2010, however... [Includes two data charts]

Credit card giant Discover Financial Services is adding mortgages to its menu of financial products and services with the acquisition of Home Loan Center, a subsidiary of Tree.com. The sale price for Home Loan Center, which operates as LendingTree Loans, is up to $56.0 million. LendingTree, a correspondent lender, originates and processes home loans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The acquisition includes substantially all of HLC’s operating and related assets as well as LendingTree’s lead-generation system, adding a residential mortgage origination component to Discover’s direct lending system. Discover, a direct banking and...