For lenders, the killer was rising expenses: $8,060 in 3Q17 compared to $7,774 in the second quarter…

Depositories held roughly 16.0 percent of outstanding ABS at the end of the third quarter…

Roughly $119.1 billion of mortgages that exceed the conforming loan limit of $424,100 were produced during the third quarter of 2017…

Last year, Mortgage Banking Solutions brokered five deals. This year, the firm hopes to complete four and maybe five…

Deal makers that buy and sell MSR assets said the Senate tax language could transform the mortgage business, creating leverage for aggregators...

Depending on the judge’s decision, the losing party will appeal…

Non-QMs account for the bulk of expanded-credit originations, with a 78.0 percent share…

California is a jumbo mortgage gold mine that’s dominated by banks, giving Banc of California an enviable starting point. BoC is also differentiating itself by focusing on non-qualified mortgages and avoiding the retail channel. BoC contributed $122.9 million of jumbo loans to a new mortgage-backed security from JPMorgan Chase. Selling loans into the securitization market is a significant shift for BoC, which had previously only contributed eight mortgages to a jumbo MBS issued in 2014 ...

FHA single-family endorsements rose 2.0 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter as more borrowers took out purchase loans and nonbanks remained in control of the market during the period. The FHA endorsed $62.1 billion of forward mortgages during the third quarter, which brought total production over the first nine months of 2017 to $182.7 billion (excluding reverse mortgages), a 2.5 percent decline from 2016. Fixed-rate loans continued to comprise nearly all of FHA’s business. Adjustable-rate endorsements totaled $935.3 million for the first nine months of 2017, up from $701.7 million a year ago. FHA purchase activity was up 4.4 percent to $48.5 billion in the third quarter while annual volume increased 2.6 percent from 2016. Purchase loans accounted for 73.6 percent of total FHA endorsements for the nine-month period. Of the $182.7 billion of FHA loans endorsed during the ... [Charts]

Any chance of a mortgage-insurance premium reduction in the near future has dimmed in the wake of an actuarial report placing the FHA insurance fund on shakier ground at the end of FY 2017. One clear thing from the report released on Nov. 15 was that FHA’s flagship single-family home mortgage program continued to grow stronger with an economic net worth of $38.4 billion in fiscal 2017. In contrast, problems persisted in the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage portfolio, driving the program’s economic value down by another $6 billion to negative $14.5 billion. The drag HECM losses inflicted on the MMIF has renewed calls to separate the ailing portfolio from the fund, which can only be accomplished by legislation. Right now, the reverse mortgage issue is not even on Congress’ legislative agenda. HECM losses also caused the fund’s economic net worth and capital reserve ratio to decline in fiscal year ...