The nation’s three largest funders of home mortgages – Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America – this week reported hefty declines in originations during the fourth quarter of 2013. Wells originated $50 billion in residential mortgages during the fourth quarter, a stunning 60 percent decline from the same period a year earlier. The last time this perennial market leader had fundings this low was in the fourth quarter of 2008 when financial markets were reeling worldwide and the U.S. housing market was in the throes of an historic collapse. But Wells’ closest competitors fared...[Includes one data chart]

Mortgage lenders large and small have indicated they plan to stay away from making mortgages that do not fit into either the “safe harbor” or the “rebuttable presumption” QM boxes.

The latest risk-sharing transaction from Fannie Mae references a $29.31 billion pool of mortgages.

According to the bank’s fourth quarter earnings statement, 68 percent of its originations were refis – the mirror image of Wells Fargo, which had 68 percent of its production in purchase-money loans.

Talk about red hot! Sales of Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rights soared in fiscal 2013, Inside Mortgage Finance has learned.

The FHFA IG audit estimates that some 9.5 percent of claims for pre-foreclosure property inspections in 2011 and 2012 resulted in $5 million of overpayments by Fannie Mae.

It may be time for the mortgage industry to take a chill-pill: applications are on the rise again, rates have stabilized and some firms are actually hiring loan officers.

Meanwhile, Ginnie Mae securities posted a pocket-sized increase within the Federal Home Loan Bank system during the period ending Sept. 30, 2013.

Waiting for a revival in jumbo MBS issuance is like waiting for Godot.

On a sequential basis, the origination results look slightly better: a 38 percent decline compared to the third quarter of 2013 for Wells and a 42 percent downdraft for JPM. Both have laid off thousands of mortgage workers over the few quarters.