Commercial banks and thrifts sold some $175.6 billion of home mortgages during the third quarter of 2014, a healthy 25.4 percent increase from the prior quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. Despite the bump in loan sales and mortgage originations, the banking industry reported a modest 4.9 percent drop in mortgage-banking income during the third quarter. And there was relatively little left in the tank as the market ... [Includes one data chart]

The general consensus among those interviewed is that nonbanks will be more aggressive in their recruiting than depositories.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported further declines in repurchase activity during the third quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of disclosure reports filed by the enterprises with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mortgage seller repurchases and indemnifications totaled just $543.1 million during the third quarter, a decline of 68.7 percent from the previous three-month period. It was the lowest quarterly repurchase volume since ... [Includes one data chart]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency in December cleared the merger of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and the FHLB Des Moines, which will create the largest FHLB by membership, serving 1,500 institutions in 13 states. The first voluntary merger in the FHLB System’s 82-year history has been approved by the boards of both FHLBs and must now be voted on by members of the two institutions, which will occur in January and February. “This is a critical milestone in the ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are continuing their efforts in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s eClosing initiative as well as the broader industrywide push for eventual eMortgage adoption, despite the challenges that have confronted the latter over the past decade. Ann Epstein, product development director at Freddie, told Inside The GSEs she does not think the limited adoption of eMortgages to date is a technology issue. “The technology ...

However, originations aren’t expected to spike in 2015 due to a number of factors, including tight underwriting standards.

The latest entry into the Ocwen legal sweepstakes is Lifshitz & Miller, Garden City, NY, whose specialties include class action lawsuits.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase increased their first-lien holdings compared to 3Q 2013 while Bank of America and Citigroup experienced a decline.

It’s anticipated that in the coming year nonbanks will continue to steal production market share away from depositories.

We continue to hear reports about a new player in the warehouse lending space that is offering attractive borrowing rates that appear too good to be true.