The majority of mortgage lenders are forging ahead in 2015 to grow their origination and servicing businesses notwithstanding concerns about compliance and weak consumer demand, according to Fannie Mae’s fourth quarter 2014 survey of senior mortgage executives. The survey found that 88 percent of executives aim to grow their loan origination business by increasing the number of retail branches and loan officers and expanding their ...

The top five lenders in the industry accounted for 33.8 percent of total production last year, down from a combined 40.8 percent market share back in 2013.

Two other servicing packages hit the market the past few days, including a seasoned $276 million Ginnie Mae portfolio from Interactive Mortgage Advisors.

2014 wasn’t a great year for mortgage origination volume, but the market rallied from a dismal start to finish on a more positive note, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance market analysis and ranking of top loan producers. Mortgage lenders originated an estimated $1.24 trillion in new home loans during 2014. That figure, which includes home-equity lending, was the industry’s lowest annual output since year 2000, when total originations barely topped the $1 trillion mark. Mortgage production fell a hefty 34.4 percent from 2013 levels, including a modest 1.4 percent drop in the fourth quarter of 2014. The soft fourth-quarter volume was...[Includes two data charts]

Mortgage industry participants are anticipating brisk refinancing activity during the first half of 2015 as a result of a 50 basis point cut in FHA’s annual mortgage insurance premium and expectations that mortgage rates will remain low. Lenders believe that with mortgage rates lingering around 3.75 percent, coupled with the annual MIP rate cut, an estimated one million mortgage loans could be ripe for FHA refinancing. “There’s real business out there,” said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant. “Some economists also anticipate another 100,000 in purchase originations this year as a result.” The premium cut makes...

“The industry seems to be cut out of some of the development of the securitization platform,” said Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ...

It’s unclear what exactly will be addressed in these new standards, though capital requirements for nonbank servicers is said to be a key part of it.

According to the IMA offering circular, the seller is a “Southwest, independent mortgage banking entity with strong financials and a highly experienced senior management team.”

The FHFA is still evaluating input regarding g-fees and but Watt has no idea if they will be reduced, increased or kept at their current levels.

"Contrary to the fable told by the left, the root cause of the financial crisis was not deregulation but dumb regulation," said House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX.