The homeownership rate fell for the 12th consecutive year in 2016, hitting levels last seen 50 years ago. While industry analysts expect that the homeownership rate will stop declining in the coming years, growth will likely be constrained. The annual homeownership rate in 2016 was 63.4 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was down from a rate of 63.7 percent the previous year and from a peak of 69.0 percent in 2004. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic ...

Caliber Home Loans climbed into second place in the wholesale-broker market thanks to a huge 63.7 percent gain in annual funding volume.

Officials at Ocwen warned of more financial turbulence throughout the year...

The Angel Oak family of mortgage lenders finished 2016 with roughly $700 million of nonprime/non-QM originations, according to officials at the company.

The relatively strong mortgage origination volume late in 2016 propped up production levels in all three major channels, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Mortgage brokers saw the biggest decline in volume during the fourth quarter, as production slipped 6.7 percent from the previous three-month cycle to an estimated $56.0 billion. But even with the late-year decline, the wholesale-broker market had...[Includes four data tables]

Warehouse providers ended 2016 with roughly $62.0 billion of commitments on their books, a 21.6 percent improvement from the same period a year earlier, according to new survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. For the most part, warehouse finance continued to be a healthy business for the megabanks and regional banks that play in the sector – especially with nonbank originators stealing market share away from many of the institutions they’re receiving lines of credit from. Few warehouse managers interviewed by this publication cited...[Includes one data table]

At last check, Fairholme valued its stake in Fannie/Freddie at roughly $115.7 million.

The aggregate dollar volume of homeowner equity in real estate has almost returned to pre-crisis levels, but borrowers are no longer using their homes as ATMs, according to industry analysts. Between 2003 and 2007, homeowners were extracting more than $350.0 billion in home equity per year via home-equity loans and cash-out refinances, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. While home prices and equity have largely recovered, equity extraction remains below $50.0 billion per year. William Dudley, president and CEO of the NY Fed, said...

The disclosure comes on the heels of a recent legal settlement in California that paves the way for Ocwen to buy servicing rights once again...

Nationstar said it expects to board $144 billion of additional contracts in 2017, $111 billion of which is subservicing for New Residential Investment Corp.