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Inside Mortgage Trends

January 8, 2016

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In a Fading Fourth-Quarter Market, Lenders Lean More on TPO Channels

The flow of new mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined by 19.9 percent from the third to the fourth quarter of 2015, and a larger share of them came from third-party originators, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities data. The two government-sponsored enterprises securitized $179.01 billion of single-family mortgages during the fourth quarter of last year. Although the biggest factor ... [Includes two data charts] Read More

Correspondent Buyback Disputes Hinge on Contract

A recent appeals court ruling demonstrates that courts will look to contract terms between correspondent lenders and loan purchasers when determining the validity of buyback claims. In CitiMortgage v. Chicago Bancorp, the loan purchaser prevailed, with judges noting that the correspondent seller breached the contract by refusing to cure or repurchase loans. The two firms had a contract under which Citi agreed to buy mortgages underwritten or originated by Chicago Bancorp ... Read More

Consolidation Happens in Due Diligence Space

Due diligence provider American Mortgage Consultants recently purchased the like-minded JCIII & Associates for an undisclosed sum, a transaction that could be a harbinger of additional consolidation in the sector. In fact, market sources contend that eventually American Mortgage Consultants will hit the auction block too – it’s just a matter of when. According to one due diligence source, the purchase of JCIII helps AMC build “critical mass,” which will attract buyers or at least ... Read More

Prospects for New Home-Equity Lending Are Rising

It’s not too late for lenders to catch the home-equity lending wave, which has rebounded after the housing market collapse and steadily gathered strength for well over a year now, according to Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. “Home-equity lending, for years the red-headed stepchild of our industry, is coming back into favor, thanks to the growth in equity that millions of American homeowners are experiencing, and the improving economy,” Khater said ... Read More

RealtyTrac Rolls Out the ‘Carfax’ of Real Estate

RealtyTrac recently launched a beta version of a new tool that it hopes will become the “Carfax” of the residential home market by telling the homebuyer as well as the lender all the foibles of a residential property. The product’s official name is Home Disclosure and it promises consumers a comprehensive view of a property that they plan to buy or rent in the future. Current property owners, as well as lenders, can access the information as well. The report is broken down into ... Read More

Real Estate Values Getting Higher in Colorado

The legalization of marijuana has had a lucrative impact on Colorado’s economy, increasing tax receipts to the state. But housing professionals aren’t quite sure if the pot “boom” is also responsible for driving up home values. “We don’t have current statistics related to that industry,” said Kelly Moye, a spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors. According to Moye, that’s partly why it’s difficult to attribute the increase in home prices to the booming weed market. But Moye notes ... Read More

Lenders Generally Gloomier About Profit Margins

Mortgage lenders became gradually more pessimistic about profit margins in 2015, according to Fannie Mae’s most recent lender sentiment survey. In the fourth-quarter survey, 42 percent of respondents expected profit margins to shrink over the next three months. Back in the first quarter of 2015, only 10 percent were in that camp, though the group grew to 25 percent in the second and 38 percent in the third quarters of last year. A minority (13 percent) said they expect margins to ... Read More

New U.S. Bankruptcy Forms Help Servicers

Broad changes to federal bankruptcy forms that went into effect on Dec. 1, 2015, should help reduce the likelihood of a procedural challenge to mortgage lenders’ and servicers’ claims, according to attorneys with the law firm of Ballard Spahr. The revisions pertain specifically to proofs of claim for residential mortgage loans. Many of the alterations are technical or designed to modernize the forms, but a few of the changes affect the substance of the information and analysis ... Read More

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