Wall Street will hit the halls of Congress on the issue of eminent domain. Meanwhile, these lenders are refi-heavy: Wells Fargo, Chase, and Quicken. See our exclusive list.

Mortgage lenders reported originating $2.01 trillion in home-purchase and refinance mortgages during 2012, a 43.7 percent increase from the prior year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released this week. Because HMDA data typically capture a relatively small share of home-equity originations and some small lenders don’t report at all, the total originations number for last year was somewhat higher. Interestingly, the origination volume grew...[Includes one data chart]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not earn a ton of money forever. Or will they?

An estimated 86.4 percent of new mortgage originations were packaged into MBS during the first half of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Despite some growth in the non-agency jumbo market, primary market lenders remain focused on production that they can safely securitize through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. Securitization rates generally climb...

Commercial banks and savings institutions held a total of $1.528 trillion in residential MBS in portfolio as of the end of the second quarter, down 2.1 percent from the end of March, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Combined bank/thrift investment in MBS has been under steady pressure since the Federal Reserve resumed buying massive amounts of new agency MBS. The second-quarter decline brought the industry’s total MBS portfolio to its lowest point in two years. The one area where banks and thrifts have beefed up...[Includes two data charts]

At $20.7 billion, non-agency pass-through MBS accounted for just 1.4 percent of total bank and thrift MBS investments.

Lew Ranieri's company, Shellpoint, is coming to market with its second jumbo MBS deal of the year.

There are signs that residential lenders are willing to accept slightly more credit risk, said one mortgage vendor.

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Flagstar are all working on large servicing deals, but as sellers. Meanwhile, HUD is worried about lower GSE loan limits.

Large parts of the Bay Area and Southern California qualify for the top high-cost limit, while other California markets such as San Diego ($546,250) and Sacramento ($474,950) have intermediate high-cost limits.