FHA Announces Revised Method for Calculating Initial MIP for HECM Refis. FHA has modified the formula for calculating the initial mortgage insurance premium for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage refinances with case numbers assigned on or after Sept. 19, 2017. The formula was modified on Nov. 14, 2017. The change conforms to the final rule FHA implemented last year to strengthen the HECM program. The revised formula has been posted on FHA’s HECM page on hud.gov, FHA Connection Release Notes, dated Dec. 28, 2017. The FHAC Release Notes outline the changes and processing instructions for lenders to calculate the initial MIP for HECM refis. HUD Releases Guide to Help Borrowers and Disaster Victims Avoid Foreclosure. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has released the Homeowners Guide to Success to help struggling homeowners and ...

Industry economists and mortgage lenders widely expect 2018 to look a lot like 2017: slowing production volume, a further shift toward purchase-mortgage lending and more pressure on profits. The average of mortgage origination forecasts from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association indicates that production will total $1.688 trillion this year, a 4.8 percent drop from 2017. The refinance sector will take the biggest hit ... [Includes one data chart]

Mortgage bankers saw a small decline in profitability during the third quarter of 2017 despite a favorable turn in servicing and a bump up in mortgage production, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s quarterly performance report. The average firm participating in the survey reported $1.743 million in pretax income for the third quarter, down 17.7 percent from the previous three-month period. Average year-to-date pretax income on mortgage banking activities was ...

Correspondent production platforms and wholesale-broker programs gained market share in all three major mortgage categories during the third quarter of 2017, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Correspondent lending showed the strongest gains. The channel’s production volume was up 15.6 percent in the conventional-conforming market, up 10.7 percent in government-insured lending and by a more modest 3.1 percent in ... [Includes two data charts]

Federal regulators’ efforts to simplify bank capital requirements relating to mortgage servicing rights don’t go far enough, according to industry participants. The institutions that the proposal is aimed at want even less stringent capital requirements, and large banks want to be included in the loosening. In October, federal banking regulators proposed simplified capital treatment for various assets, including mortgage servicing assets. The proposal would largely apply to banks with ...

Although the GOP tax overhaul will dampen use of the once-sacred mortgage interest deduction by consumers, owners of mortgage companies will be able to keep more of the money they earn each year, according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Trends. In particular, firms that have C-corporation status will benefit the most, thanks to a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. S-corps, on the other hand, likely will not do as well because ...

Holdings of residential first-lien mortgages by banks and thrifts increased again in the third quarter of 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Banks and thrifts held first liens with a total unpaid principal balance of $1.99 trillion as of the end of the third quarter, up 1.1 percent from the previous quarter and a 3.3 percent increase from a year ago. First-lien holdings are dominated by three big banks: Wells Fargo ... [Includes one data chart]

It hasn’t happened often in recent years, but commercial banks and thrifts were actually servicing more home mortgages for other investors at the end of September than they had at the midyear point. A new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends of bank call reports shows the industry was servicing $3.652 trillion of home loans for other investors at the end of the third quarter. Most of this SFO business is tied to mortgage-backed securities pools, and the ... [Includes one data chart]

Mortgages with high home price-to-income ratios tend to perform worse than mortgages with lower PTI ratios, according to economists at the Federal Reserve. The analysts suggest that PTI ratios are a helpful tool for gauging mortgage risk by tracking housing affordability. “Banks that have greater exposure of mortgages to high PTI regions have higher mortgage delinquency and charge-off rates and significantly higher probabilities of failure, even after controlling for ...

Ginnie Mae has issued expanded guidelines to protect veterans and investors from harmful loan churning and rapid prepayments in mortgage-backed securities. The changes, along with additional measures under consideration by a joint Ginnie Mae/VA refinance task force, are aimed at ensuring continued strength and liquidity of the Ginnie Mae MBS program, said Michael Bright, the agency’s acting president. The latest guidelines expand on an initial measure Ginnie implemented requiring six-months of seasoning of VA loans before they can be refinanced and delivered into Ginnie MBS pools. However, some lenders have found ways around the measure and have continued their questionable lending practices, said Bright during recent testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee. Churning is both illegal and unethical because it preys on unsuspecting borrowers, who are pressured by ...