Most publicly-traded companies reported declining net earnings from their mortgage banking operations during the third quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. A diverse group of 34 major mortgage lenders that includes most of the top lenders and servicers posted a combined $3.56 billion in income from their mortgage banking activity during the third quarter. That was down 25.8 percent from the second quarter of 2015. The declining profitability was...[Includes one data table]

Vendors that have been supplying the mortgage lending community with the technology necessary to implement the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule are suddenly under regulatory scrutiny over the struggles some lenders have had in being fully compliant with the new regulation. The so-called TRID rule took effect Oct. 3, 2015. A dark cloud began...

Mortgage lenders made it tougher for borrowers to obtain mortgage credit in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the first three months of the year. The mortgage credit availability index overall fell slightly in the second quarter to 5.3, down from 5.5 in the prior quarter, although that level still remains above the low of 4.6 in the third quarter of 2013, according to the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center (HFPC). The HFPC uses...

Nobody likes getting a mortgage, but interactive technology – if implemented correctly – can make the process significantly more transparent and less stressful, industry experts say. There is an opportunity in technology to make the system more transparent and help educate the next generation of homeowners, as well as minority groups, said Robert Greenbaum, director of communications and marketing at Fannie Mae, during a panel session at the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “They aspire...

The only way the baseline conforming loan limit would be raised for 2016 is if the HPI jumps nearly 10 points...

After a large 3Q loss, it was a bloodbath for Walter's share price...

The company, whose share price was hammered this past summer after disappointing 2Q results, promised investors that it will be break even in 2016 or “modestly profitable.”

Since the federal takeover, the Treasury Department has provided $116.1 billion in assistance to Fannie with the GSE returning (once the 3Q dividend is paid) $144.8 billion...

During the financial crisis Impac’s stock was delisted and its future looked cloudy. But not anymore…

A month has passed since the mortgage industry began making new Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosures (TRID) without any reports of anticipated and widespread delays in loan closings. That’s the good news. The bad news is that some lenders are being overly careful on sharing the buyer-disclosure form, which is used to pay third parties involved in the mortgage process. And that means certain vendors, including Realtors, aren’t getting paid in a timely fashion. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance over the past week, there also appears...