Fitch Ratings this week proposed changes in how it models home prices for loans to be included in new non-agency MBS. The change means more regions being classified as having sustainable home prices, which could lead to lower credit enhancement requirements on new securities. “The updated Sustainable Home Price model shows a stronger relationship to historical home prices and effectively distinguishes between periods of sustainable and unsustainable home prices,” the rating service said. “Under the new methodology, Fitch’s estimation of overvaluation is typically lower than in the previous model build.” Fitch has incorporated...

Founded in 1996, Regency is owned and operated by its founders Quentin Keefe and Maureen Lemay. Both will continue in their present positions.

Commercial banks hate mortgages. No, they don't. Yes, they do. No they don't. Yes, they do...

A housing counseling program funded with federal appropriations has helped reduce losses for servicers and helped borrowers, according to the Urban Institute. NeighborWorks America administers the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program, which was launched in 2008. The Urban Institute tracked outcomes related to $172.56 million in funding for the NFMC program and determined that borrowers receiving counseling from the program realized $518 million in annual savings ...

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...

Some mortgage executives told us privately that residential originations could fall by 20 percent year.

Company CEO Brian Hale downplayed the news of an offering book, noting that it hired an investment banker because over the past 12 months Stearns has been approached by “a number of interested investors.”

Although there appears to be strong interest these days in mortgage banking firms, the outlook isn’t particularly bright for commercial banks.