The Mt. Laurel, NJ-based Freedom is eager to grow its retail presence in the U.S., but is still committed to third-party lending where it has a large presence.

When pressed further, Middleman noted that getting acquisitions approved in the Empire State can “take a long time”…

The CFPB initially allowed a simple refund of the excess amount under certain conditions...

BB&T posted $80 million of mortgage banking net income in the third quarter, up sharply from a negative $21 million suffered in the previous quarter.

If housing markets are stronger than expected and rates stay low enough, originations could hit $1.421 trillion next year.

With Continental Home Loan under its umbrella, Freedom believes its production run-rate will be $2 billion a month.

What? Are piggy-back mortgages making a comeback?

Mortgage industry economists agreed that 2014 loan origination volume would be down significantly from 2013, tapering off to another drop in new business in 2015. With a surprising increase in production during the third quarter and an early October bond market rally, the outlook for next year is less clear. Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, last week predicted that mortgage originations would grow by 7.4 percent next year ... [Includes one data chart]

Homes are worth more than borrowers currently estimate, according to new indices from Quicken Loans. Last week, Quicken published a home value index based on appraisal data and a home-price perception index based on loan applicants’ estimated values. “Quicken Loans records refinancing homeowners’ estimate of the value of their home at time of application as well as the agreed upon purchase price of homebuyers and home sellers,” the lender said. “The company then ...

Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate claims to have significantly advanced towards the world’s first fully digital mortgage with Transfersafe, its latest cloud-based technology service for homebuyers. “Transfersafe is the next major step in our evolution of the mortgage process,” said Victor Ciardelli, company president and CEO. “We’ve already brought our online loan application to the market, which has funded more than $3 billion in loans to date.” Transfersafe facilitates instant ...