Mortgage balances, the largest component of household debt, rose during the fourth quarter of 2016 as more households took on new mortgage debt during the period, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The NY Fed’s latest quarterly report on household debt and credit said balances on basic household debt rose in the fourth quarter due partly to stronger, new extensions of mortgage credit. Specifically, mortgage balances shown on consumer credit ...

Redwood CEO Marty Hughes said pricing for jumbo MBS is currently strong, with execution on issuance better than execution for whole loan sales.

Meanwhile, selling Ginnie Mae receivables is still a difficult task…

Moody’s said many of the contributors to the MBS are small, regional entities that lack the sophistication of larger, more established originators.

“Since reaching a trough in mid-2013, the rebound in household debt has been led by student debt and auto debt, with only sluggish growth in mortgage debt,” said one New York Fed official.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported record lows in the volume of mortgages that sellers repurchased during the fourth quarter of 2016 because of manufacturing defects, an exclusive new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis reveals. Mortgage seller repurchases or other indemnification to the two government-sponsored enterprises totaled $207.31 million in the final three months of 2016. That was down 37.0 percent from the previous quarter and ... [Includes two data charts]

As interest rates continue to inch upward and refinance activity drops, it stands to reason that more residential lenders will move to cut staff, if they haven’t already. But so far, there have be no major layoffs – at least none that have been registered. But that doesn’t mean industry executives aren’t thinking about it. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Trends over the past month, it’s a mixed bag when it comes to hiring. Non-agency/nonprime lenders such as ...

The homeownership rate fell for the 12th consecutive year in 2016, hitting levels last seen 50 years ago. While industry analysts expect that the homeownership rate will stop declining in the coming years, growth will likely be constrained. The annual homeownership rate in 2016 was 63.4 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was down from a rate of 63.7 percent the previous year and from a peak of 69.0 percent in 2004. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic ...

Higher FHA delinquencies may have been caused by administrative mistakes…

Caliber Home Loans climbed into second place in the wholesale-broker market thanks to a huge 63.7 percent gain in annual funding volume.