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.

As expected, the Mortgage Bankers Association this week lowered its 2014 origination forecast to $1.12 trillion, a $57 billion decrease from its previous estimate. Word of the reduction was making the rounds last week.

The megabanks no longer have a total "lock" on the MBS issuance market. But is this trend short-lived?

We continue to hear reports that Walter Investment Management is talking to a fairly large nonbank about a possible acquisition.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt ended his first week on his new job by announcing four special advisors “to provide counsel on policy and strategic decisions” at the FHFA. Megan Moore will join the Finance Agency as Special Advisor – Intergovernmental.

When it comes to the new QM rule lenders are operating from a position of fear. You can bet that mortgage attorneys in the Washington DC area have racked up the billable hours, holding their clients’ hands and supplying legal advice as the clock strikes midnight.

MGIC's stock is trading near a 52-week high of $8.82 a share. The company, like the rest of the sector, is anxiously waiting on new capital-to-risk standards from FHFA.

If elected, Savitt hopes to serve on the House Financial Services Committee. A past annual president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, he formed NAIHP five years ago.

New FHFA Director Mel Watt is expected to shakeup some of the senior staff at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

One mortgage executive had this to say about the W.J. Bradley case: “This is fascinating for the implications of whether the LO or the company owns the customer. As you know, LOs have their little black books (or thumb drives) of all their customers and their information."