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Inside Mortgage Trends

March 15, 2013

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Banks Sold More Mortgages in 4Q12 But Mortgage Banking Income Fell

Banks and thrifts reported a sharp increase in the volume of home loans sold in their mortgage banking operations last year, hitting the highest level since 2009, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of bank call report data. Mortgage banking units generated $1.553 trillion in loan sales during 2012, a 36.9 percent jump from the previous year. Activity peaked at $417.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 3.9 percent increase over the third quarter. Some double counting ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Mortgage Acquisitions Come with Regulatory Risk

The hundreds of billions of dollars – perhaps trillions of dollars – in recent and upcoming mortgage servicing acquisitions include significant regulatory risks, according to industry lawyers. Concerns include increased attention from regulators, outstanding liabilities and state licensing requirements. Up to $1.5 trillion in servicing could be transferred in the next two years, mostly from depository institutions to nonbanks, according to industry analysts. Most of the large banks are actively ... Read More

Banks Up Servicing Valuations in Late 2012

Nearly all banks and thrifts gradually increased the fair market value they calculated for their mortgage servicing rights during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. At the end of the year, banks and thrifts serviced a total of $5.323 trillion in home mortgages for other investors and they valued these MSRs at $41.43 billion. The ratio of fair market value of the MSRs to unpaid principal balance of loans serviced for others was ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Low Appraisals Not Fouling Contracts, Says AEI

Contrary to what critics claim or what other studies purport to say, the majority of appraisals support the home-sale contract price, thanks to appraisers’ due diligence in developing a market-value opinion on the underlying collateral, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Citing data from a 2012 study by FNC, Inc., on how appraisal valuations respond to stressful local market conditions, the AEI said that a separate real-estate industry study claiming that low appraisal values are ... Read More

Strong Recruiting Lifts a Growing Mortgage Master

Mortgage Master, a Walpole, MA-based super-regional lender and one of the largest privately held mortgage companies in the United States, is actively expanding into some key markets in the country, while out-racing behemoth competitor Wells Fargo to the top of the ranking of mortgage lenders in its home state. And the keys to success nationally and locally are the same: strong recruitment of top-notch originators and consistent exceptional service. “I think we’re out-running them [Wells Fargo]. They have ... Read More

Seattle Bank’s Turn-Around Gets Nod for Award

What does it take for a community bank to be considered for an award for innovation? It would seem a lot in the case of Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank. Perhaps, it may also be due to the fact that HomeStreet Bank has gone from “troubled institution” to “well-capitalized institution” in four years. In fact, in March last year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions terminated a 2009 cease-and-desist order for the bank and ... Read More

New Credit Score for ‘Unscoreable’ Borrowers

The latest credit scoring model from VantageScore Solutions includes credit scores for up to 30 million consumers who haven’t been scored by other providers, according to the company. In an attempt to ease adoption of the score among lenders, the company also changed its scoring range to conform with the range of scores offered by FICO. Sarah Davies, a senior vice president of analytics and product management at the company, said VantageScore 3.0 can score 15 million more potential borrowers than ... Read More

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