Plenty of potential homebuyers have prequalified with HomeStreet Bank for mortgages this year but the bank has significantly cut its mortgage staff because originations have been below expectations. The bank focuses on markets on the West Coast and officials said purchase-mortgage originations have been constrained by a low supply of homes for sale. “The strong West Coast economies and local markets in which we operate are continuing to produce above-average job and population growth ...

Thanks to a comeback in private-money lending and a boom in the “fix-and-flip” sector, FCI Lender Services has seen its servicing portfolio double the past two years to roughly $7 billion. By 2019, it expects to be servicing upwards of $10 billion. At least that’s the forecast from Gordon Albrecht, senior director in charge of marketing and strategies for the Anaheim, CA-based nonbank. “Business is accelerating across the board,” said Albrecht. The only sector that’s not expected to show ...

Accenture, a global professional services company, is re-imagining Software-as-a-Service to give mortgage lenders an advantage in migrating to a digital lending environment. In a new white paper, the firm begins by noting that mortgage lenders are moving as quickly as possible these days toward the digital mortgage. “While each lender defines this product slightly differently, the consumer sees it as an overdue evolution in home finance,” said Accenture. “There are many advantages for ...

Industry activity to promote the digitalization of the mortgage process seems to be accelerating of late. This week, ServiceLink, a provider of transaction services to the mortgage industry, and Roostify, a provider of automated lending technology, announced a partnership they said will extend the digital experience for lenders and consumers alike. Chris Azur, CEO of ServiceLink, said the pairing will improve the overall consumer and lender mortgage experience through enhanced ...

Heavy purchase-mortgage business boosted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac production of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the third quarter of 2017, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis and ranking.The two GSEs issued a total of $223.61 billion of MBS during the three-month period ending in September, a solid 17.9 percent gain from the previous quarter. It was the strongest quarter of 2017, but production during the first nine months of the year remained 6.4 percent below the same period in 2016. Most of the gain came from the seasonal purchase-mortgage side of the business. Fannie and Freddie securitized $140.75 billion of loans used to acquire a new home, a huge 26.4 percent increase from the second quarter.

Roughly 25.6 percent of applications from blacks were denied last year, compared to 15.4 percent for whites.

Purchase-mortgage activity in the GSE market surged 21.5 percent higher in the third quarter – and Fannie recorded a whopping 35.9 percent jump in such business…

The conventional secondary market caught up with the seasonal surge in home-buying activity during the third quarter, leading to a hefty 17.9 percent jump in the production of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities. The two government-sponsored enterprises issued $223.61 billion of single-family MBS during the recently completed third quarter, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis reveals. Although that was the strongest ... [Includes three data charts]

Houlihan as been a major player in mortgage-related deals ever since it purchased Milestone Partners earlier in the decade…

Early last year Whalen predicted the nation’s four largest commercial banks might exit the business of residential lending and servicing…