Here’s what the current state of mortgage banking boils down to: Can the industry survive on $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion in production a year through 2015?
“Due to the new Dodd-Frank guidelines, fewer buyers will be qualified to purchase homes, which will ultimately affect my livelihood as well,” one Realtor said.
Among the largest servicers, Ocwen Financial Corp. and RoundPoint Mortgage had the highest overall delinquency rates during the first quarter. However, both firms specialize in “high touch” product.
Marc Savitt, who runs The Mortgage Center in West Virginia, said he recently worked on a mortgage that had 4.5 points of LLPAs. “It was a cash-out refi,” he noted.
Retail lending, which includes traditional loan-origination offices and consumer-direct operations, was down 60.0 percent from the first quarter of last year, slightly worse than the 58.0 percent downturn in the overall market.
But legislators denied federal funding for a new pilot program – Homeowners Armed with Knowledge – that would broaden use of housing counseling tied to FHA originations and servicing.