In January, the origination forecast for 2019 looked bleak but that was before rates began their relentless descent. Today? Optimism abounds with several shops reporting strong lending results for 3Q19.

Banks began reporting third quarter results this week and, as might be expected, negative servicing marks were quite noticeable.

In its thirst to expand the company’s presence in wholesale lending, Quicken Loans Mortgage Services this week unveiled big hiring plans for Detroit and Charlotte.

A smaller share of new Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac purchase business were recorded in the highest risk category. In the third quarter, most GSE loan acquisitions had credit scores of 740 and up. (Includes two data charts.)

A lack of data standardization is holding back adoption of digital mortgage processes, according to a survey of tech vendors. Fannie Mae is urging the industry to adopt standards set by MISMO.

The number of eNotes being added to the MERS eRegistry is sharply increasing, indicating a growing use of eClosings. Some 36,000 eNotes were added in the third quarter compared with 17,000 in all of 2018.

The fintech company rolled out a new product to help simplify the pre-approval process for its lender clients.

Fitch tested results from automated valuation models developed by five vendors. Clear Capital returned the most accurate results, according to the rating service.

Loan applications are on the rise once again after a down reading the week before. And it appears the good times will last through the fall.

Seller repurchases of Fannie/Freddie loans rose 17% from the first to the second quarter, with 82% of them related to loans securitized in 2018 and 2019.