Despite the news concerning a possible sale, PHH’s share price on Wednesday was trading up, but not by much. Its price is still more than $1 below its 52-week high of $26.76.

In a section entitled “Originations: Return to Profitability,” Nationstar mentions “right-sizing operations” to align with volume expectations.

Still, purchase-mortgage originations fell sharply in the fourth quarter, dropping almost 23 percent from the previous period, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

However, ARMs remain relatively rare in the MBS market. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized only $41.6 billion of ARMs for all of last year, about 2.7 percent of their total MBS production volume.

A nonbank wholesaler, Carrington is allowing credit scores as low as 580 for FHA and USDA mortgages, along with some VA loans.

Some analysts believe the $200 billion estimate on flow MSR transactions might be a bit low.

Also, Morgan Stanley recently increased its stake in Arch Capital Group to 6.3 percent. Arch owns CMG Mortgage Insurance, which is being renamed Arch Mortgage Insurance Company.

The FHA allows low downpayments on loans that have credit scores as low as 580, but numerous lenders have established their own underwriting overlays to protect against poor performance.

According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance, Lau’s company, Pingora Loan Servicing, has amassed roughly $10 billion in MSRs in less than nine months.

The new service from Freedom Mortgage will handle all aspects of the mortgage transaction, from the initial customer call to closing and servicing of the loan.