Although Fannie Mae has set purchase limits on how much production newly approved seller/servicers can sell to the GSE, Freddie Mac has shied away from such caps.

Nationstar Mortgage is telling potential investors in the company that it plans to be a significant player in settlement services, REO management, processing and other areas.

Mortgage production volume increased modestly during the fourth quarter of 2012, thanks largely to continuing gains by a number of mid-sized lenders, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. An estimated $495.0 billion in new single-family mortgages were originated during the final three months of 2012, up 2.1 percent from the previous quarter. Including a slightly revised estimate for the third quarter, total mortgage originations hit $1.835 trillion during 2012 – a solid 24.8 percent gain over the previous year. That made 2012 the second-strongest year since the housing market began to come unglued back in 2007. It’s no surprise that agency programs continued...[Includes two data charts]

Residential lenders that are relatively new to the seller/servicer ranks of Fannie Mae continue to gripe about the purchase limits the GSE has placed on them, causing the agency to spell out its reasoning in an online commentary. According to a recent message posted to Fannie’s website by Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer John Nichols, the caps the GSE placed on new customers – nonbanks primarily – were caused by what the company calls a “significant shift in the composition of our customer base and the emergence of many new originating institutions with whom we have done little or no business.” He adds: “This rapid change in the marketplace prompted...

Arch Bay Capital, once one of the most active buyers of nonperforming residential loans, has sold most of its NPL portfolio and launched a company that will originate non-agency mortgages, according to industry officials who have been briefed on its plans.

In a few weeks the White House will release its new budget and there’s increasing speculation that it will ask for $3 billion to $5 billion for the beleaguered FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund…

Ocwen Financial Corp. is meeting with its investment bankers on Wall Street today about a proposed senior credit facility that will help the nonbank continue to grow at a brisk pace.

Envoy Mortgage, a privately held nonbank, is the latest lender to jump into the correspondent lending arena. On Wednesday the firm issued a statement saying it has hired two industry veterans – Dan Hastings and Todd Cheney – to build and run the new division. Formed in 1997, Envoy has been a retail-only lender funding in 48 states… Plus other mortgage news briefs.

Carrington Mortgage is contemplating the origination of non-agency mortgages to serve borrowers whose credit has been damaged during the Great Recession, company officials told Inside Mortgage Finance

Here’s a pop quiz: Which top-ranked lender saw its residential fundings fall by 58 percent during the first nine months of the year while the rest of the competition soared? Answer: Bank of America.