According to a new consumer survey from Fannie Mae, 63 percent of consumers think that now is a good time to buy a home, tying a survey low...

The rise in retail market share likely reflects the fact that smaller lenders, which are more likely to do retail lending exclusively, account for a growing share of GSE business.

Savitt noted that some lenders don’t want to staff up too much “only to have to lay off workers later on.”

In addition, 25 percent of all LGBT survey respondents said they plan to purchase real estate in the next three years.

RealtyTrac noted that the peak for cash deals came in February 2011 at 42.2 percent of all transactions.

About 90 percent of the housing markets in the U.S today are considered affordable, according to RealtyTrac. Speaking at a recent real estate conference in Miami, RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said places like San Diego and Seattle are on the threshold of exceeding their historic affordability. …

Retail mortgage originations accounted for 61.0 percent of the single-family home loans securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the second quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. That was up from a 58.4 percent retail share during the first three months of the year, and it marked the highest retail share of new Fannie/Freddie business since the … [includes two data charts]

Commercial banks and thrifts reported just $996.7 million in single-family mortgage repurchases and indemnifications during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. It was, by a nose, the lowest quarter repurchase total reported by the banking industry since regulators began collecting this data back in early 2008. In the third quarter of last year, bank repurchases … [includes one data chart]

Thanks to strong residential origination volumes this year, the desire to hire loan processors, underwriters and loan officers is particularly robust right now. According to a survey of mortgage industry officials by Inside Mortgage Trends, 31 percent of respondents said they need processors and underwriters more than any other employee type. Loan officers came in a somewhat close second at 27 percent. …

Two weeks ago, specialty servicer Wingspan Portfolio Services shuttered its Melbourne, FL, office, leaving 150 servicing workers without a job. But more bad news may be on the way for the once fast-growing “contract” servicer. According to industry officials close to the company, the privately held Wingspan is in need of new contracts – badly. …