Among all lenders, Quicken Loans led the pack with $6.67 billion of production, a 27 percent drop from the prior year.

Some $2.67 billion of jumbo MBS contributions in 2014 were from unidentified lenders, accounting for 27.1 percent of total issuance.

Another manager noted that, “It’s been very intense recruiting in the markets that have shown the most growth: Texas, California, Florida and the DC [Washington] area.”

Some factions of the industry have expressed a concern about the “liquidity language” in the FHFA proposal, but that’s not a concern for Pingora's Lau.

In an effort to help indebted students as they move into the workforce, the CFPB joined other federal regulators recently in issuing guidance on private student loans with graduated repayment terms at loan origination. “Financial institutions that originate private student loans may offer graduated repayment terms in addition to fixed amortizing terms to borrowers at the time of loan origination,” the guidance stated.Graduated repayment terms provide lower initial monthly payments early in the repayment period and phase in the amortization of the principal balance, it noted. “Graduated repayment terms may align a borrower’s income level with loan repayment requirements, provide flexibility to repay the debt sooner if a borrower’s income increases more quickly than projected, and may help long- ...

Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie produced $85.18 billion of new single-family MBS during the month of January.

Policymakers continue to provide plenty of doubt about whether anything will happen to shrink the footprint of the government-sponsored enterprises. At a hearing last week before the House Financial Services Committee, Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said he hasn’t made a decision about future adjustments to the guaranty fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The g-fee issue has been under review by the FHFA for ...

Overall, 2014 was not a good year for FHA originations as tight underwriting and high loan costs narrowed the band of borrowers able to qualify for an FHA-insured residential loan, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency data. FHA total endorsements dropped to $35.2 billion, an 8.1 percent drop in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, with fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages declining by 7.9 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively. FHA purchase originations suffered a decline of 11.3 percent. There was one bright spot: FHA refinances rose a meager 2.2 percent while the percentage of conventional loans that refinanced into FHA saw a more substantial lift of 13.0 percent quarter to quarter. FHA baseline lending (below $417,000) saw volume drop 8.4 percent in the fourth quarter. FHA jumbo loan amounts up to the statutory high-cost loan limit and ... [ 2 charts ]

Among the top 10 residential servicers, just three firms managed to grow their receivables from the third to fourth quarter: Quicken, Walter and U.S. Bank Home.

A long-awaited proposal from the Federal Housing Finance Agency that would codify minimum net worth and liquidity requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers received mostly good reviews from the industry, but there are concerns about some of the details. For the Mortgage Bankers Association, the chief worry centers around the agency’s liquidity requirements. Released late last week, the FHFA is asking...[Includes one data chart]