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Inside Mortgage Trends

July 3, 2015

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Retail Channel Played Key Role in Second-Quarter GSE Business Surge

Retail mortgage originations accounted for 61.0 percent of the single-family home loans securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the second quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. That was up from a 58.4 percent retail share during the first three months of the year, and it marked the highest retail share of new Fannie/Freddie business since the … [includes two data charts] Read More

Nonbank Share of Servicing Nowhere Near Peak

Mortgage regulators have sounded alarms and written new rules in response to the growing market share of nonbanks in the servicing market, but nonbank servicers were much more dominant 10 years ago. At the end of 2005, nonbanks accounted for 40.6 percent of mortgage servicing outstanding at the time. At the end of March 2015, nonbanks were making headlines because they had a combined 27.3 percent share of the market. … Read More

Mortgage Fraud Down But Not Out

Increased regulation and a relatively stable lending environment have helped reduce mortgage fraud, although that could change as purchase mortgages become more prevalent. Interthinx, a provider of risk management services for lenders, said in its new annual report for 2014 that mortgage fraud declined by 4 percent compared with 2013. The biggest drop was in fraud relating to a borrower’s employment or income. … Read More

Banks Report Record Low in Repurchases

Commercial banks and thrifts reported just $996.7 million in single-family mortgage repurchases and indemnifications during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. It was, by a nose, the lowest quarter repurchase total reported by the banking industry since regulators began collecting this data back in early 2008. In the third quarter of last year, bank repurchases … [includes one data chart] Read More

Mortgage Hiring Poll: Production Staff in Demand

Thanks to strong residential origination volumes this year, the desire to hire loan processors, underwriters and loan officers is particularly robust right now. According to a survey of mortgage industry officials by Inside Mortgage Trends, 31 percent of respondents said they need processors and underwriters more than any other employee type. Loan officers came in a somewhat close second at 27 percent. … Read More

Redlining Becomes New Focus in Fair Lending

A more subtle version of looking at redlining is becoming a major focus in fair-lending analysis, according to industry experts participating in a recent webinar sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was created in 1974 largely as a tool to fight discriminatory redlining, a practice named for maps that some lenders developed that literally outlined in red the parts of the market where they would not do business. HMDA’s focus on mapping… Read More

Specialty Servicers Slowed by Fewer Delinquencies

Two weeks ago, specialty servicer Wingspan Portfolio Services shuttered its Melbourne, FL, office, leaving 150 servicing workers without a job. But more bad news may be on the way for the once fast-growing “contract” servicer. According to industry officials close to the company, the privately held Wingspan is in need of new contracts – badly. … Read More

TRID Ushering in New Tech Paradigm, Pros Say

The pending implementation of the integrated disclosures rule is driving a sea change in at least two critical areas: technology innovation and regulatory expectation. Competency with the former will facilitate the fulfillment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s so-called TRID rule, according to speakers at the American Bankers Association’s recent regulatory compliance conference in Washington, DC. The rule, now scheduled to take effect Oct. 3, requires new consumer disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act and… Read More

Will Marriage Equality Grow the Mortgage Market?

With same-sex marriage becoming law throughout the land, the question for the mortgage industry is how this would help the housing market. There is very little market research on homeownership rates among gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and same-sex couples. But a recent survey by the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals found 54 percent of LGBT respondents own some type of real estate and, of those, 8 percent own a vacation home. In… Read More

The Affordable (and Not So Affordable) Markets

About 90 percent of the housing markets in the U.S today are considered affordable, according to RealtyTrac. Speaking at a recent real estate conference in Miami, RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said places like San Diego and Seattle are on the threshold of exceeding their historic affordability. … Read More

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