Cart

Inside Mortgage Trends

May 30, 2014

View Archived Issues

Banks and Thrifts Report Sharp Decline In Mortgage Banking Income in 1Q14

Commercial banks and savings institutions generated $3.37 billion in mortgage banking income during the first quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call reports. First-quarter bank and thrift mortgage banking profits were down 36.2 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and 56.2 percent off the robust $7.70 billion the industry earned in the first three months of 2013. The first quarter of 2014 marked the lowest ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Strong Demand for Correspondent Production

A decline in refinance activity has prompted a number of lenders to turn to correspondent producers in an effort to boost originations. While correspondent lenders could anticipate better pricing due to the demand for their originations, firms buying the production concede that it’s not the most profitable origination channel, suggesting that pricing might not improve much. Big banks continue to dominate the correspondent channel while reducing ... Read More

Agencies Consider Standards for MSR Reviews

Mortgage servicing rights will never trade as freely as mortgage-backed securities, but agency officials say they are considering ways to facilitate the increasingly active MSR market. “The market is undergoing tremendous changes with great opportunities in mortgage servicing,” said Bob Ryan, a special advisor at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, during last week’s Secondary Market Conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. “It has attracted ... Read More

Purchase Originations Expected to Decline in 2014

The mortgage market’s shift from a focus on refinances to purchase mortgages won’t be enough to prompt an increase in purchase-mortgage originations in 2014, according to industry economists. The Mortgage Bankers Association revised its origination projections last week, predicting that purchase-mortgage originations will decline by 4.0 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year. An estimated $680 billion in purchase mortgages ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

HAMP Reset Fears Overblown, UI Study Concludes

Reset issues in the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program will begin to surface in 2016 and worsen in later years, but the impact will be less severe than predicted, according to a new commentary by the Urban Institute. Analysts with the institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center said HAMP resets will be a challenge for many borrowers, particularly those who received the steepest interest rate reduction. “However, we are likely years away from ... Read More

Mortgage Credit Availability a Tale of Two Markets

Mortgage credit tightened slightly in April, according to the latest Mortgage Credit Availability Index from the Mortgage Bankers Association, a measure which analyzes underwriting trends in data from the AllRegs Market Clarity product. The index slipped from 114.0 in March to 113.8 in April, after increasing for each of the first three months of the year. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of a loosening ... Read More

Latest Imf News

More Imf News

Featured Data

More Featured Data

Featured Reports

More Latest Reports

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

View Results