Mortgage sellers continue to get a little more adventurous in the kinds of loans they deliver to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of data on mortgage-backed securities issued during the first quarter of 2018. The credit loosening was more apparent in the purchase-mortgage sector, which saw declining production volume from seasonal factors. In the first quarter, 12.61 percent of purchase loans sold ... [Includes two data charts]

About 70.4 percent of the home loans originated in 2017 were sold to secondary market investors, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released this week. According to the preliminary HMDA data made available by federal regulators, lenders reported $1.738 trillion in first-lien single-family mortgage originations in 2017. HMDA data cover about 96 percent of the market. The biggest buyers were Fannie Mae ... [Includes one data chart]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay requirements yielded higher costs for lenders and revealed flaws with vendors’ loan originations systems, according to a recent survey of lenders. The ATR rule and standards for qualified mortgages took effect in early 2014. Strategic Mortgage Finance Group surveyed 122 lenders about the regulation earlier this year. Lenders estimated that ATR/QM added $139 per loan to their ongoing origination costs. Only $44 of ...

The weighted average coupon for new issuance of FHA refinancing loans is much lower than FHA purchase loans due to a combination of factors, according to an analysis by Wells Fargo Securities. Wells analysts led by senior analyst Vipul Jain compared collateral characteristics of FHA purchase and refi production for 2017 based on the weighted average loan age (WALA) of newer collateral issuance. The team found that purchase-loan production in FHA carries higher-than-average ...

Most mortgage lenders have been primed to focus on the home-purchase market and there is plenty of borrower demand, but housing supply remains a sticking point.

Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray challenged PHH’s captive reinsurance program, ruling that any referral of settlement business that involves payments is prohibited under RESPA…

Arch maintained its large market share lead in insurance-in-force, while Radian ranked first in terms of new insurance written…

New CEO George Mangiaracina said the nonbank’s servicing portfolio is serving as a counter-cyclical balance to declining originations…

Angel Oak's small-balance commercial unit employs 19 full-timers and hopes to add an additional 30...

Cordray was never popular in the mortgage industry because of all the regulations he heaped on lenders and servicers...