It’s not too late for lenders to catch the home-equity lending wave, which has rebounded after the housing market collapse and steadily gathered strength for well over a year now, according to Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. “Home-equity lending, for years the red-headed stepchild of our industry, is coming back into favor, thanks to the growth in equity that millions of American homeowners are experiencing, and the improving economy,” Khater said ...

RealtyTrac recently launched a beta version of a new tool that it hopes will become the “Carfax” of the residential home market by telling the homebuyer as well as the lender all the foibles of a residential property. The product’s official name is Home Disclosure and it promises consumers a comprehensive view of a property that they plan to buy or rent in the future. Current property owners, as well as lenders, can access the information as well. The report is broken down into ...

The legalization of marijuana has had a lucrative impact on Colorado’s economy, increasing tax receipts to the state. But housing professionals aren’t quite sure if the pot “boom” is also responsible for driving up home values. “We don’t have current statistics related to that industry,” said Kelly Moye, a spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors. According to Moye, that’s partly why it’s difficult to attribute the increase in home prices to the booming weed market. But Moye notes ...

Freddie managed a bigger annual increase over 2014 levels than Fannie did, thanks in part to its more active program in securitizing seasoned loans.

Among the key TRID issues identified: continued software glitches, systems issues and confusion among technology vendors...

Impac Mortgage is currently recruiting sales and operational personnel...

During the first nine months of 2015, retail accounted for just $400 million of Ditech’s $19.6 billion of residential production...

The IBM-owned Seterus has been buying mortgage servicing rights from Ocwen Financial...

PHH Corp. and Nationstar Mortgage – both top 10 ranked residential servicers – recently filed to sell debt securities, an odd situation for two companies struggling with low share valuations amid a lack of confidence among both investors and stock analysts. The lender/servicers also have unveiled stock buyback programs, though such announcements usually represent a desire to do so, and not a contractual obligation. PHH’s Form S-3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission offers...

A surge in sales of mortgage servicing rights by banks to nonbanks is likely over, according to industry analysts. As regulatory oversight remains a concern, the use of subservicing is expected to increase, with troubled loans handled by specialists. “The frequency of MSR transfers will remain low, even though buyer interest in MSR transfers may rise from 2015 levels,” according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch added...