As interest rates decline significantly, there's a risk that investor demand will fade...

Interestingly, mortgage rates actually increased on Monday and Tuesday, some loan officers reported. As New Jersey loan broker Brian Benjamin put it: "Every day is a roller coaster."

Chuck Klein of Mortgage Banking Solutions: “I don’t see much interest in selling. Buyers aren’t willing to pay a premium.”

The the spike in refi activity has “meaningfully” increased the pricing power for originators, said KBW. The research firm said gain-on-sale margins from secondary market loan sales should be exceptionally strong.

Sterling said that in connection with the review, a significant number of employees have either been terminated or resigned, including a senior vice president...

Mortgage loan officers should take one last look at their loved ones because if the 30-year fixed-rate vanilla mortgage falls below 3.0% they’ll be living at the office as new customers pour through the door (or Internet) like a zombie apocalypse…

While traditional non-agency jumbo lending lagged the overall market, the conforming-jumbo business was cracking. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $51.15 billion of single-family loans above last year’s $484,350 limit for one-unit properties.

But there’s also a dark side to the rate plunge: The servicing side of the mortgage business is looking at mark-to-market bloodbaths that could be the norm if rates don’t snap back by the end of the current quarter.

According to Anthony Hsieh, founder and CEO of top-10 lender loanDepot, the mortgage industry might want to ponder creating a “reservation” system for incoming applicants.

Nearly 12% of loans were underwritten using only one month of bank statements as the main source of income verification.