Almost across the board, the share prices of publicly traded mortgage companies are in the tank these days – and not just the “big three” nonbanks of Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management. Stonegate Mortgage, for instance, which went public about a year ago, is trading at $14 a share compared to a 52-week high of almost $19 and a low of $12. PennyMac Financial Services is at $15, about $1 above its low and $5 below its high. And Impac Holdings ...

A housing counseling program funded with federal appropriations has helped reduce losses for servicers and helped borrowers, according to the Urban Institute. NeighborWorks America administers the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program, which was launched in 2008. The Urban Institute tracked outcomes related to $172.56 million in funding for the NFMC program and determined that borrowers receiving counseling from the program realized $518 million in annual savings ...

Most mortgage lenders expect profit margins to remain steady in coming months, but more of them are bracing for reduced earnings and fewer anticipate increases than in the past, according to results from a Fannie Mae survey released this week. Just over half (51 percent) of the 185 participants said they expect profit margins on loan production activity to be unchanged in the next three months. But a third of the lenders predicted tighter margins, up from 29 percent in the previous survey, mostly because of ...

Look for the lack of access to credit, particularly among first-time homebuyers and at both ends of the credit spectrum, to be the most significant impediment to housing in 2015, industry experts said during the Bipartisan Policy Center’s housing summit in Washington. While a weak labor market and high levels of student loan debt have done much to hinder first-time homebuyers, demand remains strong – but not enough to overcome stringent loan standards, said Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy Holdings Corp ...

Loans originated by mortgage brokers tended to have slightly lower credit scores and slightly higher debt-to-income ratios than production by retail lenders and correspondents. An Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the second quarter found that broker originations had an average credit score of 721.9 – compared to 728.5 for retail production and 723.4 for correspondent originations. The average DTI for ... [Includes one data chart]

The biggest chunk of purchase business for the GSEs were loans ranging from $200,000 to $300,000, which accounted for 29.4 percent of their business.

Over the past few weeks, a handful of mortgage firms have announced acquisitions of smaller shops with an eye toward expanding their origination footprints or servicing portfolios. And investment banking advisors told Inside Mortgage Finance that between now and yearend, the mergers and acquisitions market should be brisk as owners of privately held companies finally head for the exits, realizing that when it comes to originations, 2015 likely won’t be much better than the current year. The largest nonbank to test the M&A market this year is...

Company CEO Brian Hale downplayed the news of an offering book, noting that it hired an investment banker because over the past 12 months Stearns has been approached by “a number of interested investors.”

Dovenmuehle and Cenlar have long dominated the sector, but a growing number of small and midsized players have made inroads in recent years.

The Mortgage Bankers Association wants the FHFA to push Fannie and Freddie to go easy on mortgage buybacks.