The long-awaited boom in nonperforming loan sales may finally be here, as megabanks such as Wells Fargo, Citigroup and HSBC have begun testing investor appetites by offering large packages in the open market. According to investors and advisors who play in the space, Wells recently auctioned off an $800 million NPL package and HSBC sold a $750 million portfolio. Recently, Popular Bank said that it entered...

John Robbins is out at Bexil American Mortgage. Meanwhile, EverBank readies its second jumbo MBS deal of the year.

Banks and thrifts reported $7.7 billion in mortgage banking income during the first three months of 2013, a 16 percent jump from the previous quarter.

The auction market for nonperforming mortgages is beginning to generate heat with prices rising nicely from last year.

Come next year, Freddie Mac will assess lenders a fee of $7,500 if they fail to deliver mortgage loans with an aggregate principal balance of more than $5 million.

Nonbank servicers had an average of 275 loans per employee in the second half of 2012, according to Fitch, about the same level seen since 2010.

New bulk MSR packages continue to hit the market. Many of the new deals have low coupons and hardly any delinquencies.

A new bill to replace Fannie and Freddie with a single government guarantor is already being dismissed.

The Senate Banking Committee has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing for Mel Watt to head FHFA. Does this lack of action mean anything?

Even as industry chatter increases about an effort to extend the eligibility date of the Home Affordable Refinance Program, analysts speculate that more HARP may be too much of a good thing for the mortgage market. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cite evidence of a “creeping goal line” to move back by 12 months the June 1, 2009, cut-off date for HARP eligibility. KBW cites a Saturday morning address by President Obama earlier this month on the subject of refinance. “While he did not specifically mention extending HARP, we think an announcement could be coming over the next few weeks to extend the eligibility back one year,” said KBW. More telling, said BAML, is...