Genworth Financial Inc.’s U.S. mortgage insurance segment continued to be a burden to its parent despite reporting a narrower operating loss of $34 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to losses of $38 million in the prior quarter and $96 million in the prior year. Nonetheless, the reduced amount of losses during the period was good news to company executives who reported net income of $166 million, or 34 cents a share, during the period from $142 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier. Operating profit was $167 million, or 34 cents a share, up from ...

California and Texas took the honors for top FHA producers among states and other U.S. jurisdictions in 2012, with a combined $59.2 billion in new mortgage loans insured by the FHA. The combined output of the two states represented 25.5 percent of the $232.1 billion in new FHA originations reported by all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia for the entire year. Total FHA production by state was up a modest 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter and a hefty 21.9 percent from the prior year. California, which accounts for 25 percent of the U.S. housing market, reported ...

The Federal Financial institutions Examination Council is taking a close look at social media and the risks it poses to financial institutions, including mortgage lenders.

Nationstar Mortgage has agreed to buy the settlement services unit of Equifax.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have developed a prototype of its standard securitization platform.

Mortgage bankers of all sizes continued to report strong earnings on their mortgage banking operations during the fourth quarter of 2012, but the salad days may be over.

Nationstar Mortgage may purchase the valuation and title division of another company.

Although mortgage profits reported for the fourth quarter, so far, have been strong, trouble may lie ahead for the sector with lower gain-on-sale margins and moderately contracting spreads, according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Inside Mortgage Finance shortly will publish its final 4Q ranking of FHA lenders, but it appears that the October-December period was one of the strongest in terms of loan production in quite some time ...plus other mortgage briefs.

Relatively new players to the world of Fannie Mae approvals are starting to gripe a little more about the “volume curbs” that the GSE is placing on its “newbie” customers. One mortgage banker, who spoke under the condition his name not be used, told Inside Mortgage Finance ...