Mortgage lending has gained significant market share in the home-purchase market in recent months due to a pullback by investors, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The combined market share for current homeowners and first-time homebuyers increased again in August, according to Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys. The two groups accounted for 84.5 percent of the homes purchased in August, based on a three-month moving average ...

After a historically slow start to the year, mortgage originations and loan sales rebounded during the second quarter but remained tepid. Commercial banks and savings institutions reported a total of $140.07 billion of loans sold by their mortgage banking operations during the second quarter, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. That was up 11.4 percent from the dismal $125.71 billion in loan sales during the first three months of the year ... [Includes two data charts]

Look for the lack of access to credit, particularly among first-time homebuyers and at both ends of the credit spectrum, to be the most significant impediment to housing in 2015, industry experts said during the Bipartisan Policy Center’s housing summit in Washington. While a weak labor market and high levels of student loan debt have done much to hinder first-time homebuyers, demand remains strong – but not enough to overcome stringent loan standards, said Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy Holdings Corp ...

Loans originated by mortgage brokers tended to have slightly lower credit scores and slightly higher debt-to-income ratios than production by retail lenders and correspondents. An Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the second quarter found that broker originations had an average credit score of 721.9 – compared to 728.5 for retail production and 723.4 for correspondent originations. The average DTI for ... [Includes one data chart]

The biggest chunk of purchase business for the GSEs were loans ranging from $200,000 to $300,000, which accounted for 29.4 percent of their business.

The MBA argued that the DOL didn’t follow rulemaking procedures in 2010 when the regulator withdrew guidance stating that loan officers could be exempt from overtime compensation requirements...

On its stated-income product, Homewood requires a minimum of three months of bank statements for both business and personal assets.

As part of the transaction, Cobalt co-founders Keith Tibbles and Ernie Gehre will stay with the company, which will become a division of Caliber.

Roughly 40 to 50 percent of Citadel's production goes on its balance sheet.

Over the past few weeks, a handful of mortgage firms have announced acquisitions of smaller shops with an eye toward expanding their origination footprints or servicing portfolios. And investment banking advisors told Inside Mortgage Finance that between now and yearend, the mergers and acquisitions market should be brisk as owners of privately held companies finally head for the exits, realizing that when it comes to originations, 2015 likely won’t be much better than the current year. The largest nonbank to test the M&A market this year is...