An estimated $254.15 billion of agency mortgage servicing rights were transferred in bulk sales transactions last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities disclosures. The peak of the market came during the second quarter of 2015, when a whopping $102.27 billion of MSR were transferred to new servicers. Some $61.80 billion of that was in the Ginnie Mae program, with Bank of America ... [Includes one data chart]

The portion of the homeowner population that is capable of benefitting from refinancing their mortgages is shrinking, and could continue to shrivel if mortgage rates rise along with interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve. But the good news is that rates have actually been falling of late as investors around the world seek the stability of U.S. dollar-dominated assets, so that slice of the refi pie could actually grow if the present market turmoil continues. “Looking at current interest rates ...

With oil prices hitting multiyear lows this week, now might seem like a good time for residential lenders to tighten up underwriting standards in oil-producing states such as Alaska, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Texas. But so far, lending executives hardly seem worried. Jim Picard, vice president at Denali Home Loans in Alaska, said the state has suffered some job losses in oil “but we’re still at full employment.” He noted that energy jobs are a small part of Alaska’s economy ...

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, mortgage originations recovered more slowly in areas where market share was concentrated among fewer lenders, according to a new study by Adonis Antoniades. The author is an economist in the monetary and economic department of the Bank for International Settlements. Antoniades used data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to study loan applications, originations and lenders’ market share on a county-by-county level from 2006 through 2011 ...

Social Finance Inc.’s recent decision to stop using FICO scores when evaluating an applicant’s ability to repay a mortgage suggests that alternatives to the traditional credit-scoring model are catching hold. On Jan. 12, 2016, SoFi, a San Francisco-based online nonbank lender, announced it is no longer going to use FICO scores, which for years have been the basis for the origination of trillions of dollars in mortgage and consumer loans in the U.S. SoFi will still take into account ...

Correspondent originators and mortgage brokers continued to churn out relatively more purchase mortgages than retail lenders during the fourth quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of agency loan-level data. Some 34.6 percent of single-family loans securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the final three months of last year were originated by correspondent lenders. And 69.1 percent of those loans ... [Includes one data chart]

In JPM’s case, the extended cycle times caused by TRID did not affect the company’s financial results due to how the bank recognizes revenue. Most mortgage firms recognize revenue upon rate lock...

Also, the agency servicing market has continued to become less top-heavy.

The SEC said Ocwen improperly used MSR valuations performed by Home Loan Servicing Solutions, a related party to which it sold the MSRs.

Earnings season has begun, and among the biggest financial institutions and mortgage lenders that have reported thus far, there’s been little evidence of damage to the bottom line as a result of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule known as TRID. At top-ranked Wells Fargo, total loan production for the fourth quarter was $47 billion, versus $55 billion in the third quarter, and $44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, something Chairman and CEO John Stumpf attributed to seasonality as well as TRID. During an earnings-related conference call with investors last week, Stumpf was asked...