Researchers at the Urban Institute found that, although the percentage of first-time homebuyers increased from 2011 to 2014, the national share of first-time homebuyers in the agency mortgage market fell from 57 percent in 2011 to just 54 percent last year. Researchers Bing Bai, Jun Zhu and Laurie Goodman, director of the Housing Finance policy center at the Urban Institute, attributed the change to a decline in FHA’s market share. From 2001 to 2003 ... [Includes one data chart]
State-licensed mortgage lenders originated $72.8 billion of Veterans Administration home loans during 2014, according to a new analysis of mortgage call report data by Inside Mortgage Trends. VA home loan originations by state-licensed lenders – mostly independent, privately held mortgage bankers – rose 14.5 percent from 2013 to 2014. At the same time, production of conventional and FHA-insured loans fell by 26.3 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively ... [Includes one data chart]
While refinance activity grew and accounted for 63 percent of all conventional-conforming originations in the first quarter, the number of borrowers cashing out equity or consolidating loans dipped slightly from 29 percent in the previous quarter to 27 percent. That was still up from 17 percent cash-out share of refinances in the first quarter of 2014, according to Freddie Mac’s quarterly analysis. But Freddie said the net dollars of home equity converted to cash as part of a refinance remained low ...
Quicken Loans recently sold $1.25 billion of corporate debt through a private placement, and speculation is rising that the nation’s largest nonbank originator may use the cash to significantly expand its servicing portfolio. As Inside Mortgage Finance went to press this week, company spokesman Aaron Emerson said he had no information about servicing expansion. Regarding details of the debt sale, he noted: “Legally, there’s not much I can say about the topic.” Quicken serviced...