New home-equity lending activity fell during the first quarter of 2016, but the market started the year well ahead of the pace in early 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. New home-equity originations on home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages fell by 6.3 percent from the fourth quarter to an estimated $45.0 billion. However, that was up 18.4 percent from the first quarter of last year. The first-quarter drop in home-equity lending mirrored...[Includes three data tables]

Merger-and-acquisition activity in the mortgage sector has been relatively mild so far this year, but suddenly the table has turned with a handful of deals announced over the past two weeks and some lenders publicly stating their intentions as buyers. And one thing seems certain: It appears that all of the acquisitions will be accomplished through “asset” purchases as opposed to the acquisition of stock, be it private shares or otherwise. Early this week, Guild Mortgage, San Diego, inked...

Home prices in many areas have fully recovered from the declines seen during the financial crisis, according to a variety of home price indices. While prices above levels seen before the financial crisis could cause alarms about another housing bubble, Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac, is seeking to ease concerns. Last week, Freddie economists published an in-depth analysis of home price trends and median household income. They said the house price-to-income ratio appears to be the clearest indicator of the long-run sustainability of house prices. And even the PTI ratios that are relatively high in specific areas don’t necessarily indicate that there’s another housing bubble. “Based on this approach, we’re...

Last year, $18.8 billion in outstanding IOs in non-agency MBS hit 10-year recasts…

Equity Prime Mortgage of Atlanta said it’s hiring in all areas, including sales, servicing, operations and compliance…

Rumor has it that a mid-sized nonbank based in the Western U.S. is entertaining takeover offers...

JPMorgan Chase may not like FHA loans very much, but it certainly has a strong appetite for jumbos, hence the huge growth in its retained portfolio...

MBA said the average pre-tax production profit was 33 basis points in the first quarter of 2016, compared to an average net production profit of 22 bps in 4Q15.

Joe Garrett of Garrett, McAuley & Co. wonders whether the day is coming when the CFPB will take up residence at some of the nation’s largest nonbank lenders.

California led all states in VA mortgage securitization with $5.6 billion, 60.8 percent of which were refis.