With interest rates on mortgages expected to go up this year, some lenders are putting an emphasis on loan originators who can close purchase mortgages. Economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association predict that the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage will climb from 3.70 percent last year to 4.50 percent in 2017. The higher rates will help prompt a 47.7 percent decline in refi volume in 2017 compared with the estimated $901.0 billion in refi originations last year, according to the MBA. Dave Stevens, president and CEO of the MBA, said...

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has announced a $53 million settlement agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank to resolve alleged discriminatory lending through its wholesale broker channel in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act. Filed last week in Manhattan federal court, the U.S. Attorney’s complaint accused Chase of improperly steering African-American and Hispanic borrowers into certain loan products and charging them higher interest rates and fees than comparable white borrowers between 2006 and 2009. During the period, approximately 360,000 brokered mortgage loans were delivered...

Thus far, only a $225.75 million nonprime MBS issued by an affiliate of Lone Star Funds in December has received AAA ratings.

In a poll conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance, just 14 percent of respondents said they were against a cut in FHA premiums.

So far, the industry average on MSR markups for 4Q has been roughly 29 percent, according to a recent tally from Compass Point...

On the servicing front, BOK Financial revealed that 4Q16 income was reduced because it left servicing-related hedges on the books for too long...

The MBA chief stressed that the market is set to shift from mortgage loan officers who can thrive as “gatherers” to a market that requires “hunters.”

As delinquencies and foreclosures decline, specialists that deal with problem loans should see a drop in business...

With President-elect Donald Trump set to take office and Republicans in control of Congress, trade groups representing banks reiterated calls for revisions to standards for qualified mortgages. Banks are pushing for QM status to be applied to any mortgage held in portfolio, even if the loans have characteristics that would otherwise make them non-QMs subject to greater liability. In a letter this month to leaders of Congress, Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association ...

Mortgage default rates appeared to spike higher in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a new analysis and servicer ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. Some 5.51 percent of FHA loans in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities pools were reported as 30- to 60-days past due at the end of December. That was up 80 basis points from the previous quarter and was easily the highest default rate in the past three years. FHA default rates were also up in more serious delinquency categories: loans 60- to 90-days past due and those over 90-days late. The figures are based on loan count and are not seasonally adjusted. Similar trends occurred in the VA home loan guaranty program. The 30-60 category was up 41 bps, while 90+ delinquencies jumped 19 bps. The supply of Ginnie single-family MBS outstanding continued to set new records. The total, not including multifamily and FHA home-equity conversion ... [4 charts]