Housing is showing some traction, but heavy regulation and enforcement continue to weigh on the mortgage market, according to analysts at this week’s secondary-market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association in New York. Charles Gabriel, president of Capital Alpha Advisors, said there are some green shoots in the mortgage market, including signs of more home sales. But he characterized it as “a mature market that is suboptimized.” Lenders have paid massive penalties in lawsuits, he added, and there is no sign that they will expand the credit box. “U.S. Bank was asked...

One source said the CFPB is even reaching out to former MI officials to assist it in its review.

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp., Frederick, MD, originated $940 million of home mortgages in the first quarter, a 48 percent jump from the same period a year earlier.

Quicken once again ranked first among all FHA lenders, funding $2.46 billion during 1Q, more than double the volume of its closest competitor, Wells Fargo.

According to exclusive figures compiled by Inside Nonconforming Markets, roughly $320.0 billion in subprime mortgages were outstanding at March 31, 2015.

Several hard money lenders are involved in financing flippers, charging interest rates that are several percentage points above the going Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac rate.

With the April acquisition of Home Loan Servicing Solutions’ assets and liabilities, New Residential gained a significant portion of the clean-up call rights for outstanding non-agency MBS. Officials at the real estate investment trust said New Residential plans to execute the call rights and acquire more rights as the MBS feature presents strong profit potential. New Residential owns the clean-up call rights on more than 2,100 non-agency MBS with an outstanding balance of about $235 billion. That’s about 34 percent of the non-agency MBS market. “This should be...

Jay Bray, Nationstar’s current CEO, will assume the role of president effective June 1.

Annaly remained the biggest REIT investor in MBS, although its holdings were down 14.9 percent from the fourth quarter.

Interest rate volatility and other issues caused a reduction in jumbo-related profitability at some nonbanks in the first quarter of 2015. However, many nonbank conduits remain optimistic that the jumbo business will pay off, particularly via issuance of mortgage-backed securities. Redwood Trust reported $2.0 million in income from residential mortgage banking activities in the first quarter of 2015, down 80 percent from the previous quarter. The decline was primarily due to lower margins on ...