FHA jumbo loan originations increased in the first quarter of 2013 as well as from the same period last year pending hikes in the mortgage insurance premium and the required downpayment on loans above $625,500, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. FHA jumbo lenders produced an estimated $5.44 billion in loans over $417,000 during the first three months of the year, up 6.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 and 14.0 percent higher compared to the volume from a year ago. Consumers continued to use the FHA jumbo product despite FHA’s decision to raise the annual mortgage insurance premiums on ... [2 charts]

Fannie Mae is working on what it calls an “out-of-region” data center with IBM, which will make the GSE’s business “more resilient,” a spokesman for the secondary market giant told Inside The GSEs. The official noted that eventually IBM will “assume some data center activities” but provided little in the way of details on the matter. The comments about the data center came after weeks of rumors that IBM had landed a huge outsourcing contract with Fannie. The GSE acknowledged the data center work.

Sixty-five percent of real estate agents would be more willing to recommend a lender if they were provided a mobile “app” to track the status of scheduled mortgage closings, according to a new survey by Campbell Surveys and Inside Mortgage Finance Publications. “Most lenders today are not keeping us advised of the status of the loan and, more frustrating, they are requiring additional documents piecemeal,” according to one real estate agent that responded to the survey. “Instead of a ...

Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be "even" with the U.S. Treasury by yearend? Also: PennyMac Financial Services goes public.

The game is on: MBA wants a single GSE security and will lobby aggressively on the issue.

With mortgage bankers earning a ton of money the past two years, more firms are considering buying a new loan origination system.

So far a “broad cross-section” of industry participants and other stakeholders support the steps the Federal Housing Finance Agency has taken to establish a new securitization platform for residential MBS, the agency said in a progress report issued this week. “In light of the importance of this initiative to the housing finance system, and reinforced by the comments received from the public, FHFA has directed the enterprises to move forward on the development of the [common securitization platform],” the agency noted. In early March, FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco said...

Fannie Mae and IBM are working together on at least one big technology project: a new data center. But is the relationship about to go even further? Meanwhile, MBS issuance stayed hot in April.

FHFA issues progress report on the "common securitization platform" but no CEO is in place yet. Meanwhile, Ally is out of MSRs totally.

Freddie Mac is phasing out a software package that helps with the servicing of delinquent loans, a move that could help private sector technology vendors.