We continue to hear plenty of talk about mortgage mergers and acquisitions with deal announcements likely to come between early July and late August.

Is the stock of PHH Corp. so depressed that it's a screaming "buy"?

What does the future hold for the hedge fund-owned Prospect Mortgage?

The market for large "legacy" MSR deals appears to be ice cold. Then again, last week there were rumors that a $50 billion transaction might be in the works.

We talked a handful of wholesalers and were told the figure is much lower – in the range of 2.2 percent to 2.5 percent. Broker-sourced loans account for less than 10 percent of all loans funded today,

Sources tell IMFnews that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is looking into the matter and is promoting the idea of capital minimums for nonbanks that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Barring any unpleasant news, Julian Castro, President Obama’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, apparently has passed his job interview with the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. This week, Castro, a three-term mayor of San Antonio, TX, laid out his priorities as HUD secretary before committee members if he is confirmed for the job. Castro underscored the importance of “partnership and pragmatism” as the key drivers in running a city. As HUD secretary, Castro said he would enhance “cross-agency collaboration” and emphasize the value of “measuring results” by setting precise goals, consulting with the public on major issues, developing a public report card and annual updates – tools he employed in his municipal housing education and affordable housing initiatives in San Antonio. As mayor, Castro worked to ...

Three different sources confirmed that the two companies had been discussing combining, but it’s unclear exactly when the talks broke down.

“Right now there’s a large discrepancy between what the buyer wants to pay and what the seller wants to sell at,” said Chuck Klein, managing partner in Mortgage Banking Solutions.

One competitor to Prospect described Mike Williams as a “great technical guy.” He added that having Prospect go public is “the next step” in Sterling’s exit strategy.”