FHA single-family mortgage originations fell slightly in August from July as the agency’s home-purchase volume continued to falter, agency data showed. In August, the latest month for which FHA origination data are available, forward-loan originations totaled $12.6 billion, down 3.2 percent from the prior month and down 25.1 percent from the same period last year. Purchase mortgages made up 81.1 percent of all FHA-insured single-family loans originated during August, while refinances accounted for the remainder. Fixed-rate mortgages were the product of choice, as they have been in previous periods. Quicken Loans relied more on refis than on purchase lending (38 percent of new loans) as it closed the month with $534.8 million in new production, down 8.5 percent from July. Nonetheless, it was good enough for a 4.2 percent FHA market share. Second-place Wells Fargo’s total production for the month was ... [1 chart]

The nonbank expansion has eased over the past few quarters because once-hungry buyers of receivables such as Ocwen, Nationstar and Walter Investment are no longer gobbling up huge portfolios.

PennyMac’s MSR portfolio is almost evenly divided between subservicing for others, the company’s own originations, and mortgage servicing rights acquired from others.

Walter was already under the investigative microscope of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission because of its servicing practices.

In 2013, Provident Funding Associates of California was the second largest originator of home mortgages through loan brokers, but it has fallen from that high perch in recent quarters. Moreover, there have been recent reports that the privately held nonbank may significantly trim the number of states where it’s willing to accept submissions from brokers. Wholesalers and brokers alike told Inside Mortgage Finance they have heard talk of a large-scale pullout by Provident in multiple states, but have seen nothing definitive. According to agency mortgage-backed securities data compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Provident was active with brokers doing business in 41 states over the first nine months of 2014. One broker trade group official, requesting anonymity, said...

PHH's servicing portfolio continues to shrink thanks to MSR sales and payoffs.

Securitization of rural development home loans during the first nine months was $14.19 billion, with the top three issuers accounting for 58 percent.

Two Harbors has plenty of capacity to hold non-agency loans in portfolio without reliance on outside financing.

Some 60.7 percent of the mortgages in the deal have interest-only features.

Hiring top performers can cost a company in terms of salary and bonus pay, but many believe such hires are worth it because such LOs bring in a ton of volume.