“There was no drama surrounding this meeting of the FOMC,” said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

No immediate successor to Ashmore was named, but whoever the person is they will have to deal with a slumping revenue picture…

Ocwen will not be sold through a stock deal, but Nationstar could be...

Meanwhile, the indicators point to a drop in production volume for the fourth quarter…

Brian Vieaux, a senior vice president of third-party originations, said loan brokers are an “extension” of Flagstar’s reach through the retail channel.

The industry’s shift toward originations of purchase mortgages could help mortgage brokers gain market share, according to industry analysts. “This is a much more promising sector of the business than it was three or four years ago,” James Modrycki, a vice president of correspondent sales at Impac Mortgage Holdings, said at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in Denver. Brokers originated $87.0 billion of mortgages in the first half of 2017, accounting for ...

A lender doesn’t have to be one of the big dogs in the industry to be competitive, thanks to continuing technological innovation. A case in point: Former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig and former Freddie Mac Chief Operating Officer Bruce Witherell have formed a new company in the mortgage technology and fulfillment solutions spaces, Promontory MortgagePath, which just rolled out what it’s touting as the next generation of point-of-sale solutions for lenders ...

Stratmor Senior Partner Garth Graham recently offered a handful of things mortgage lenders should consider to make the best decisions possible about their investments in digital technology. First, lender executives should be sure they clearly know the business case for the investments they are making. “Without a very specific business case, it is very difficult to generate the additional revenue or lower the expense necessary to handle the investments that are being made in new technology ...

Purchase-mortgage originations are expected to increase slightly in 2018, but not enough to offset declines in refinance activity, according to industry analysts. On average, economists at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association project that $1.21 trillion in purchase mortgages will be originated next year, up 5.9 percent from the amount expected in 2017. “All the pieces are in place for stronger growth in 2018 and beyond,” Michael Fratantoni, the MBA’s chief economist ...

Property value estimates from traditional appraisals may have a significant amount of uncertainty behind them, but Collateral Analytics says it may have a solution that could improve the accuracy of appraisals. Loan purchasers and portfolio lenders can benefit from CA’s new tool, which can be used for strategic lending and better risk management, according to Michael Sklarz, founder and president of Collateral Analytics. “We are taking an appraisal and its accompanying information ...