Mortgage lenders sold a total of $121.87 billion of loans that were originated by mortgage brokers and correspondents to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities disclosures by the agencies. Third-party originated volume was up just 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter, while total issuance of agency MBS rose slightly more, by 3.7 percent ... [Includes one data chart]

D. Steve Boland, Bank of America’s home loans originations executive, says retail mortgage lending is the perfect way to connect with the bank’s customers. In an interview for a special report published by Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, Boland noted that BofA serves one out of every two banking customers in the country. “We have a tremendous footprint and franchise, from our financial centers to the mortgage loan officers and all of the other associates that serve our customers,” he said ...

Most of the slack is being taken up by nonbanks, which serviced $1.571 trillion of agency MBS at March 31.

Many real estate agents report that appraisal costs have risen and AMCs’ overhead may be responsible...

Most of Altisource's business is tied to Ocwen, which is in the process of ridding its servicing portfolio of agency loans.

Five Oaks will retain all the subordinate classes, the servicing rights and the IOs.

The costs for appraisals for home purchases have increased in recent years, according to some real estate agents responding to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, with blame being placed on appraisal management companies. “Many agents report that appraisal costs have risen and AMCs’ overhead may be responsible,” said Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys. While lenders aren’t required...

The top contributor to the new Credit Suisse jumbo deal is New Penn, which is controlled by MBS co-inventor Lew Ranieri.

DOJ cites an email written by a Quicken divisional vice president for underwriting who brags that the lender has a team that is “responsible to pushback on appraisers questioning their appraised values.”

Then there was Bert Ely who noted: "In my opinion, American housing policy is leading the country down the same path that led to the last housing bubble..."