Buoyed by improvement in FHA loan quality, some lenders have begun lowering the credit score requirements for FHA and other government-backed mortgages. Last month, Wells Fargo alerted FHA lenders of its decision to lower the minimum credit score for purchase home loans through its retail channel from 640 to 600. “We felt it was an appropriate time to do it given the improvement in FHA loan quality,” a spokesman explained. “The change applies to all FHA borrowers. Last year’s resolution of the FHA indemnification issue also prompted the change at Wells Fargo, according to a bank official. In addition, resolving the putback risk with ...

VA activity appeared to lose momentum in the fourth quarter of 2013 as approved lenders reported $129.9 billion in total originations for the year, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs data. Production has been gradually slipping since the end of the first quarter, when lenders posted an aggregate $37.5 billion in new VA loans. The fourth quarter ended with $22.4 billion in total originations, which was down a hefty 32.1 percent from the previous quarter. On a year-over-year basis, however, VA originations were up by 1.5 percent. Refinancing accounted for 9.9 percent of VA production in 2013, up slightly from ... [1 chart]

Even though regulatory scrutiny is sure to intensify in the new mortgage lending ecosystem crafted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tightening margins and a declining originations market are expected to tempt more lenders to turn to outsourcing as a coping method. Would-be providers are stepping up to the opportunity. The latest to do so is Freedom Mortgage Corp., a privately-held mortgage lender based in Mt. Laurel, NJ. The company this week launched its ...

In mortgage banking, logic dictates that when loan production drops dramatically – as it has the past four months – originators cut back on compensation. But that isn’t stopping some lenders from offering huge signing bonuses to top performers. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Trends, a few nonbank lenders are paying hefty bonuses to lure certain loan officers away from their current employers. One nonbank lender based in California reportedly paid a $1 million signing bonus recently ...

Significant investments in mortgage servicing rights appear to have paid off for Two Harbors Investment, a real estate investment trust. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is also turning profits due to MSRs, servicing and a correspondent operation. Two Harbors this week reported net income of $239.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, rebounding from a net loss of $192.7 million in the previous quarter, both based on generally accepted accounting principles. During the fourth quarter, Two Harbors ...

Mortgage products offered by lenders haven’t changed much since the 1930s and are in a primitive stage, according to Robert Shiller, an economist who helped develop the Case-Shiller home price index. In a new paper published by Yale University’s Cowles Foundation for research in economics, Shiller pushes for greater innovation in the mortgage industry. He is currently a professor at Yale and for years has advocated a product he developed, “continuous workout mortgages,” to no avail ...

Two pages of data showing the top 30 sellers of agency mortgages in 2013 with a break-out for each lender listing average credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, loan-to-value ratios, loan size, purchase-mortgage share and refinance share. All characteristics are shown for the origination channel (retail, correspondent and broker) at each lender.

Total FHA delinquencies rose slightly while the percentage of seriously delinquent loans remained flat in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of FHA servicing data. Data showed delinquencies of 90 days or more remained unchanged at 8.1 percent from the previous quarter even as total FHA delinquencies increased a bit to 15.2 percent from 15.1 quarter over quarter. The share of loans that are 30-60 days behind on their payment also increased to 7.1 percent from 6.9 percent over the same period. As of Dec. 31, FHA servicers had a combined ... [1 chart]

While the net supply of non-agency mortgage-backed securities continues to run off, holdings by banks and thrifts actually increased in the third quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The entities held $145.83 billion in non-agency MBS at the end of the third quarter of 2013, up 2.2 percent from the previous quarter. Banks and thrifts held 17.8 percent of non-agency MBS outstanding at the end of the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase is the ... [Includes one data chart]

Spurred by low interest rates and strong house price appreciation, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan originations rose 20.3 percent during the first nine months of 2013 compared to the same period the year before, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA snapshot data. HECM lenders reported $11.8 billion in total originations over the nine-month period, with initial principal amount at loan origination totaling $7.8 billion. Purchase reverse mortgage loans comprised 94.5 percent while fixed-rate mortgages accounted for ... [1 chart]