Total originations of reverse mortgages with FHA insurance increased in the first three months of 2015, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage production, overall, rose 3.0 percent to $3.9 billion from the fourth quarter of 2014 and was down 2.0 percent on a year-over-year basis. HECM purchase loans far outpaced refinances, which accounted for only 14.5 percent of total HECM volume in the first quarter. Lenders reported a total of $2.3 billion in initial HECM principal amount at loan origination. Meanwhile, there is continued investor interest in HECM mortgage-backed securities (HMBS), according to Ginnie Mae. The unpaid principal balance of HMBS climbed to $48.9 billion in FY 2014 and the number of participations (the funded portions of HECM loans that have been securitized) has increased to 6,585, 856. HMBS issuance was ... [1 chart]

The FHA plans to issue a proposed rule in the fall that would allow it to insure single-family condominium units in multifamily projects, according to the agency’s regulatory agenda for the second half of 2015. The proposed rule would cover condo units that are attached, detached, semi-detached or manufactured. It would apply as well to undivided interests in the common areas and facilities that serve the project. The proposed change would clarify and ensure lender compliance with the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. HERA moved FHA’s authority to insure single-family condominiums from Section 234 to Section 203 of the National Housing Act. However, because Section 203 does not provide the same authority for FHA, rulemaking became necessary. HERA also granted FHA the authority to issue administrative notices to convey condominium policy guidance until a ...

Americans were too busy refinancing and shoveling snow to get new home-equity loans during the first quarter of 2015, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis reveals. Mortgage lenders did an estimated $19.5 billion of home-equity lending during the first three months of 2015, based on new commitments for home-equity lines of credit – by far the most active part of the HEL market – plus originations of closed-end seconds. That was down 7.1 percent from the fourth quarter of last year. Despite the slowdown in the first quarter, home-equity production was...[Includes three data tables]

An increase in mortgage origination volume helped lenders increase earnings from loan production and secondary market activities during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. A diverse group of large and mid-sized companies reported a total of $1.910 billion in net earnings from their loan origination and marketing activities during the first three months of the year. That was up 20.1 percent from the ... [Includes two data charts]

Commercial banks and thrifts – most of them – continued their years-long retreat from the mortgage servicing rights market during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call reports. Banks serviced a total of $4.282 trillion of home mortgages for other investors as of the end of March. That was down $134.2 billion, or 3.0 percent, from the fourth quarter. Compared to a year ago, bank mortgage servicing ... [Includes one data chart]

Small and mid-sized independent mortgage bankers have key decisions to make about secondary market strategies and what to do with the mortgage servicing rights they create through originations, and experts say there isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy. In secondary marketing, lenders that have become Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac approved sellers typically start out at the cash window, said Philip Rasori, chief operations officer at Mortgage Capital Trading ...

The past few weeks haven’t been particularly good for Nationstar Mortgage: Two top executives – including President and Chief Operating Officer Harold Lewis – announced their sudden retirements, and a handful of law firms accused the nonbank of making false statements about its financial condition. Achieving class action status on shareholder lawsuits can be a long and difficult road, but in general, investors in the nation’s largest nonbank servicer aren’t ...

The supply of mortgage warehouse credit available in the market has grown as new players entered a field with subdued production through most of 2014, but usage rates have begun to climb. The amount of outstanding borrowing by mortgage lenders has increased by 150 percent over the past year, said Stanley Street, president of Street Resource Group, in a recent interview with Inside Mortgage Trends. His firm provides a software platform for warehouse lenders ...

For a company that was on the brink of death seven years ago, Impac Mortgage Holdings is back and ready to take market share. In the first quarter of 2015, the California-based company reported a profit of $34.0 million, reversing a 4Q14 loss of $2.2 million and a $3.0 million loss from a year ago. Impac attributed the improved earnings to higher mortgage origination volume and the recognition of $24.4 million of deferred tax assets offset by losses on ...

Household debt has increased since mid-2013 at a faster rate than income, prompting concerns among some industry analysts. DBRS noted that while job market trends are likely to remain favorable, borrowers’ performance across many asset classes is expected to weaken in the next 12 months. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, household debt peaked in the fourth quarter of 2008 at $12.67 trillion. The debt measurement, which includes mortgages, student loans, auto loans, credit cards and other borrowing, fell to $11.15 trillion in the second quarter of 2013.