Sources contend that Nationstar Mortgage has ceased bidding on flow deals, preferring to shop for bargains in the conventional bulk market.

The catch was that the so-called GSE "patch" would only last as long as Fannie and Freddie remained in conservatorship...

The biggest component in the aggregate portfolio was consumer ABS, which includes student loans, securitized leases and consumer debt other than credit cards, home-equity loans and auto finance...

Most people who are not in straight-jackets believe the chances of GSE reform by 2016 are pretty much zero. Just in case you were wondering and needed a reminder…

A major snag on getting deals completed is the "earn-out" agreement.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week dealt a heavy blow to the mortgage industry, holding that the Department of Labor’s most recent regulatory interpretation is valid, meaning mortgage loan officers are eligible for overtime pay. The DOL went back and forth, through formal rulemaking and regulator interpretations, on whether loan officers should be exempt. At one point, it said lenders did not have to pay LOs overtime because they fit in the so-called administrative exemption. But in its most recent position, a 2010 opinion letter, the agency said loan officers are not exempt from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including overtime pay. The Mortgage Bankers Association challenged...

Real estate agents have significant influence when it comes to which lender a homebuyer will choose, according to new research by Campbell Surveys, based on a national survey sponsored byInside Mortgage Finance Publications. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said real estate agents recommend specific mortgage providers for 55 percent of their mortgage-financed transactions, on average. When agents recommend mortgage providers, homebuyers use one of the recommended mortgage providers 68 percent of the time, on average. “We can therefore impute...

Jumbo mortgage production last year grew its share of total originations to its highest level since well before the financial collapse that launched the era of the “agency jumbo” loan. Mortgage lenders cranked out a total of $291.1 billion of home mortgages with loan balances exceeding the old conforming loan limit of $417,000. Like everything else in mortgages, jumbo production was down from 2013, by 22.4 percent. But total mortgage originations fell...[Includes three data charts]

When Realtors recommend a lender, homebuyers use one of the anointed originators 68 percent of the time.

The last time the jumbo market share was higher came in 2000 – when the Fannie/Freddie loan limit was just $252,700...