Commercial banks and savings institutions made money on their mortgage banking activity during the fourth quarter, but not that much. [Includes one data chart.]

Mortgage lenders that deliver loans into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities continued to face relatively few repurchase demands from the two government-sponsored enterprises last year. [Includes two data charts.]

The agency purchase-mortgage market saw a higher share of first-time homebuyers in 2018 and increased reliance on conventional financing rather than government mortgage insurance. [Includes one data chart.]

A partnership between two companies is making mortgage loan officers more confident of their commissions while working in the field.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are scheduled to report fourth-quarter results next week and chances are the two will once again show strong earnings, but the black ink likely will pale a bit from the $6.7 billion they posted (combined) in the third quarter.

When originations go south, as they have the past year or so, mortgage bankers and brokers start trimming the herd.

The mortgage industry is bracing for a flat year in terms of volume due to higher mortgage rates, a slowing economy and weak loan demand. [Includes one data chart.]

Publicly-owned commercial banks and thrifts reported widespread declines in mortgage banking income during the fourth quarter, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. [Includes one data chart.]

Lenders that sell single-family mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became slightly more daring in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to an exclusive new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. [Includes two data charts.]

Changes to the Department of Labor’s overtime rule are anxiously anticipated as they may finally answer, among other things, whether mortgage loan officers are excluded from overtime pay.