We continue to hear plenty of talk about mortgage mergers and acquisitions with deal announcements likely to come between early July and late August.

The biggest source of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac business during the first five months of 2014 came from loans with high credit scores and loan-to-value ratios that don’t require mortgage insurance, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Some 34.0 percent of mortgages securitized by the two government-sponsored enterprises through May of this year had credit scores of 740 or higher and LTV ratios ranging from 61 percent to 80 percent ... [Includes one data chart]

A spike in mortgage interest rates similar to what occurred in 2013 is possible, according to economists at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The May-June 2013 spike caught many lenders off guard and put a crimp in mortgage banking profitability. The direction mortgage interest rates are likely to head is heavily tied to the anticipations of market participants, according to Saty Patrabansh, a senior economist at the FHFA, along with William Doerner and Samuel Asin ...

Two cases, Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association and Nickols v. Mortgage Bankers Association, are the heart of the dispute.

Is the stock of PHH Corp. so depressed that it's a screaming "buy"?

As the spring homebuying season has progressed, lenders have improved closing times for purchase mortgages, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Industry participants also report improvements to good faith estimates with fewer closing cost surprises for borrowers. Closing times declined on a number of different mortgage types, based on three-month moving averages. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages with a downpayment of at least 20 percent took...

“Rather than earning on the front end, they’re increasing margins on the secondary sale," said mortgage analyst Ken Richey.

There’s still more than a year left before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated mortgage disclosure final rule takes effect. But top industry representatives are urging lenders to begin preparations now, if they haven’t already done so, because of the depth and breadth of the new regulation – and the central role it will play in the origination process. During a general session of the American Bankers Association’s annual regulatory compliance conference, held in New Orleans earlier this month, Rod Alba, senior regulatory counsel for the trade group, said that the CFPB’s TILA/RESPA integrated disclosure – known as TRID – is a massive project. “We cannot take it lightly,” Alba said. He also emphasized...

What does the future hold for the hedge fund-owned Prospect Mortgage?

Credit unions that originate no downpayment mortgages almost always keep the loans in portfolio.