Banks and thrifts had a combined $2.49 billion of mortgage-banking income in the third quarter. Western Alliance Bank stood out, more than doubling its earnings from the second quarter. (Includes data table.)
Leaders at the three major credit bureaus, which own VantageScore, expect to see strong revenues and profits as the GSEs allow VantageScore to compete with FICO.
Lenders with high adoption rates for tools from Freddie Mac like automated collateral estimator and asset and income modeler have significantly lower per-loan costs and higher per-loan profits, the GSE says.
Slight interest rate relief might lead to a refinance wave that could help servicers offset some of the performance drags expected from prepayments and rising unemployment.
Pennymac asked the Financial Accounting Standards Board to clarify accounting practices involving mortgage servicing rights and recapture assumptions. The effort has support from some major MSR buyers who are looking for a level playing field.