For all of 2015 Radian predicts that it will pay $700 million in net claims, but next year that figure could fall to as low as $400 million.

In other GSE news, the Senate version of legislation to cap CEO salaries at Fannie and Freddie is moving along and a vote could happen this week…

During his career, Chris Nard also headed ORI’s mortgage insurance division, Republic Mortgage Insurance.

As the head of the NAIHP, Savitt has been a frequent critic of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...

Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the MBA, said the purchase market could keep growing right off the end of the forecast table.

Purchase mortgages accounted for 60.2 percent of originations in 2014, but California remained a hotbed of refinance activity, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data for last year. Some 52.8 percent of mortgage originations in the Golden State last year were refi loans, the highest such concentration anywhere in the U.S. House prices and loan amounts are significantly higher in many California markets ... [Includes one data chart]

The start of fall marked a reversal of trends in the housing market, according to results from the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. In September, investors gained market share from current homeowners and first-time homebuyers, and the distressed property share of home sales increased. The gains in market share were part of a seasonal pattern. And while the trends aren’t necessarily positive for mortgage-industry participants ...

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $119.7 billion of correspondent-originated loans during the third quarter of 2015, a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis reveals. That was up 8.6 percent from the second quarter. Meanwhile, broker production fell 10.6 percent during the third quarter. Brokered loans accounted for just 11.5 percent of agency mortgage-backed securities issued during the third quarter, down from 12.9 percent in ... [Includes one data chart]

The good news is that mortgage industry forecasters now see a much stronger originations market in 2016 than they did just a few months ago. But loan production is still expected to drop from 2015 levels. The consensus projection from economists at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association is that single-family mortgage originations will total $1.376 trillion next year. Back in May, the average forecast was $1.208 trillion. Estimates have ... [Includes one data chart]

Although some lenders love having a desk in a high-volume Realtor’s office, others loathe the practice. “I lost so much business to those places over the years,” he said. “I refused to pay $5,000 for a desk…”