Mortgage lending has gained significant market share in the home-purchase market in recent months due to a pullback by investors, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The combined market share for current homeowners and first-time homebuyers increased again in August, according to Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys. The two groups accounted for 84.5 percent of the homes purchased in August, based on a three-month moving average ...

After a historically slow start to the year, mortgage originations and loan sales rebounded during the second quarter but remained tepid. Commercial banks and savings institutions reported a total of $140.07 billion of loans sold by their mortgage banking operations during the second quarter, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. That was up 11.4 percent from the dismal $125.71 billion in loan sales during the first three months of the year ... [Includes two data charts]

Almost across the board, the share prices of publicly traded mortgage companies are in the tank these days – and not just the “big three” nonbanks of Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management. Stonegate Mortgage, for instance, which went public about a year ago, is trading at $14 a share compared to a 52-week high of almost $19 and a low of $12. PennyMac Financial Services is at $15, about $1 above its low and $5 below its high. And Impac Holdings ...

Most mortgage lenders expect profit margins to remain steady in coming months, but more of them are bracing for reduced earnings and fewer anticipate increases than in the past, according to results from a Fannie Mae survey released this week. Just over half (51 percent) of the 185 participants said they expect profit margins on loan production activity to be unchanged in the next three months. But a third of the lenders predicted tighter margins, up from 29 percent in the previous survey, mostly because of ...

Look for the lack of access to credit, particularly among first-time homebuyers and at both ends of the credit spectrum, to be the most significant impediment to housing in 2015, industry experts said during the Bipartisan Policy Center’s housing summit in Washington. While a weak labor market and high levels of student loan debt have done much to hinder first-time homebuyers, demand remains strong – but not enough to overcome stringent loan standards, said Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy Holdings Corp ...

Loans originated by mortgage brokers tended to have slightly lower credit scores and slightly higher debt-to-income ratios than production by retail lenders and correspondents. An Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the second quarter found that broker originations had an average credit score of 721.9 – compared to 728.5 for retail production and 723.4 for correspondent originations. The average DTI for ... [Includes one data chart]

Over the past few weeks, a handful of mortgage firms have announced acquisitions of smaller shops with an eye toward expanding their origination footprints or servicing portfolios. And investment banking advisors told Inside Mortgage Finance that between now and yearend, the mergers and acquisitions market should be brisk as owners of privately held companies finally head for the exits, realizing that when it comes to originations, 2015 likely won’t be much better than the current year. The largest nonbank to test the M&A market this year is...

The few real estate investment trusts that currently have access to advances from the Federal Home Loan Banks would lose their ability to tap the attractive funding source under a proposal last week from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The FHFA said the proposed rule is necessary because REITs with captive insurance companies pose risks to the FHLBank system. “FHFA is taking these actions to address supervisory concerns about certain institutions that are ineligible for FHLBank membership, but that are using captive insurers as vehicles through which they can obtain FHLBank advances to fund their business operations,” the federal regulator said.

Obama will meet with top banking executives and industry trade groups on Sept. 17 to explore potential solutions to lender overlays and other problems that hinder first-time homebuyers and other qualified borrowers from obtaining an FHA or conventional mortgage. The meeting is expected to touch on key lender issues, including credit overlays, government enforcement actions, regulatory burden and risk-based versus FHA pricing. Lenders say they are willing to originate single-family mortgages to qualified borrowers and first-time homebuyers but they feel the post-crisis environment has turned hostile against them. Repurchases and indemnifications have dampened their willingness to lend to moderate- and lower-income borrowers, they admit. Regardless of policy changes designed to increase lending in the lower credit score range (620 to 679), FHA enforcement actions to ...

The FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund account balances fell by $0.5 billion during the second quarter of 2014 to $45.3 billion due to higher claim payments and property expenses. Observers, nonetheless, remain optimistic the fund will return to full stability in 2015 with no further change in the mortgage insurance premium charged to borrowers. The MMIF’s total balances peaked at $48.4 billion in the third quarter of 2013 and then slipped gradually over the last three quarters, according to data in the FHA’s latest report to Congress regarding the financial health of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Total revenues from premium collections, property sale, and note sale proceeds were $4.3 billion, while $5.1 billion was paid to cover claims and property expenses in the second quarter. This resulted in a negative$821 million cash flow in the quarter, the smallest outflow since ...