The spike in interest rates in recent months didn’t cause a significant change in homebuyer behavior, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The non-cash share of purchase-financing continued to increase in July and sales-to-list price ratios remained elevated, indicating strong demand from homebuyers relying on mortgage financing. Non-cash financing (conventional mortgages, FHA and VA, non-agency, etc.) accounted for 72.1 percent of ...

Originations of non-agency jumbo mortgages continued to increase in the second quarter of 2013, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The growth was fueled by banks offering highly competitive interest rates in an effort to retain jumbos in portfolio. Wells Fargo was the top-ranked jumbo lender through two quarters in 2013, by a wide margin. The lender had $21.87 billion in jumbo originations in the first half of 2013, accounting for 19.4 percent of ... [Includes one data chart]

With credit standards loosening somewhat, some commercial banks are listening to pitches from “private-money” lenders that are searching for warehouse lines, but so far it’s been a case of more smoke than fire. During the subprime meltdown of 2007, banks and Wall Street firms exited the nonprime warehouse sector and have yet to return. According to warehouse consultant Michele Perrin, several banks are willing to make warehouse lines on private-money mortgages, but only up to $5 million per deal ...

FHA lenders have gradually stretched to originate loans for borrowers with more modest credit scores in recent quarters, although these borrowers typically are better positioned to keep up with their payments, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of data released by the agency. The average credit score for single-family loans endorsed in the second quarter of 2013 was 693 – the lowest such average in nearly four years. This is partly the result of a shift toward more purchase-money mortgages, which generally have ... [1 chart]

Parties to trustee lawsuits challenging a city’s use of eminent domain to deal with foreclosures are gearing up for a face-off at an injunction hearing Sept. 13 in federal district court in San Francisco. The city of Richmond, CA, the defendant in the lawsuit, has suffered setbacks in the last few days and has yet to make good on its threat to initiate eminent domain proceedings after investor trustees rejected its offer to purchase distressed mortgages for restructuring. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, acting as trustees for a group of ...

The reverse mortgage lending industry is working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement two policy changes that would strengthen the FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program. One policy change involves the development of a new HECM option that combines features of the fixed-rate, full-draw HECM Standard and the HECM Saver, according to Peter Bell, president and chief executive officer of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. HUD eliminated the standard 30-year, fixed-rate HECM in April because ...

Both sides of the mortgage banking business posted modest gains in profitability during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends of earnings reports from nine lenders. The group reported a total of $4.34 billion in production-related income during the second quarter, up 2.8 percent from the first three months of the year. That’s a relatively strong showing given that their total origination volume increased by just 0.7 percent ... [Includes one data chart]

A fresh batch of earnings reports from 15 major mortgage lenders underscored the strength and breadth of the industry’s financial success in the second quarter of 2013. A group of 15 lenders, including a number of nonbanks and regional banks that typically report somewhat later in the earnings cycle, posted a combined $794.8 million in earnings from their mortgage banking operations during the second quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. That was up ... [Includes one data chart]

Seeing a business opportunity with the ongoing explosion in new mortgage rulemaking, software providers LendingQB and DocuTech recently formed a strategic alliance, integrating their platforms and enabling their clients to streamline their compliance document preparation. LendingQB is a Costa Mesa, CA-based company that specializes in loan origination technology and services for the mortgage industry. DocuTech, based in Idaho Falls, ID, is a provider of enterprise-class compliant ...

The warehouse lending market continued to hum along in the second quarter, but executives in charge of extending credit to nonbank mortgage lenders are beginning to see certain warning signs, including lower profit margins. “Profits are definitely tightening,” said Chuck Mueller, president and CEO of Fidelity Bank, Edina, MN, a one-branch bank whose forte is warehouse lending. Some executives note...[Includes one data chart]