Cart

Inside Mortgage Trends

February 5, 2016

View Archived Issues

Banks Report Decline in Mortgage Banking Income in 4Q15, Year Ends Up From 2014

Mortgage banking income generally declined for commercial banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter, although 2015 was generally more profitable than the previous year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of earnings releases. A diverse group of 25 banks reported a total of $3.046 billion in mortgage-banking income for the fourth quarter. That was down 14.8 percent from the previous three-month period, and it marked the group’s lowest ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Some Signs of Credit Loosening in GSE Market

Sometimes it seems there is more talk of lenders loosening their credit standards than actual data supporting such a shift, but a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities data unearthed some positive signs. In the fourth quarter of 2015, 14.4 percent of purchase mortgages securitized by the two government-sponsored enterprises had credit scores ranging from 620 to 699. Back at the beginning of 2014 ... [Includes two data charts] Read More

Blackstone Eyes Entry Into Nonprime Space

The Blackstone Group, according to industry sources, has amassed a war chest of roughly $250 million to buy non-agency, nonprime mortgages, another sign that “big money” investors have returned to the sector. At this point, it’s hard to say how much origination volume in the sector will grow. It’s well known that over the past 18 months, bond insurance giant PIMCO has been buying loans that don’t meet the qualified mortgage test from Citadel Servicing and others. The reason is ... Read More

Deep Subprime Lending on the Rise in 2015

There was a hefty increase in mortgage originations for subprime borrowers with credit scores under 620, most of them FHA loans, according to Equifax. From January through October of 2015, some $50.7 billion of mortgages were originated for borrowers with credit scores below 620, the credit bureau said. That was up 28 percent from the same period in 2014. Equifax attributes this to smarter lending habits. Amy Crew Cutts, Equifax’s chief economist, said while there are many ... Read More

Regs, Tech, Demographics Pushing eMortgages

The mortgage lending industry is seeing a convergence of regulation, technology and demographics that is fueling a drive toward eMortgages, eDelivery and greater use of mobile devices and other technologies to simplify, digitize and speed up the mortgage process, according to Jeffrey Nuckols, senior vice president of Xerox Financial Services. On the regulatory front, most of the latest impetus, of course, has come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure ... Read More

Fraudulent Investors Seen as Performing Worse

Mortgages to borrowers who misrepresented their occupancy status perform much worse than loans to borrowers who truthfully identify themselves as investors, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The researchers examined purchase mortgages originated between 2005 and 2007. Loan-level data from McDash Analytics was matched with credit bureau data from Equifax. The researchers defined borrowers as having committed ... Read More

Mortgage Shopping Firm Loses Patent Lawsuit

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently upheld rulings that went against Mortgage Grader, a loan shopping website that has filed a number of patent-related lawsuits. The court upheld a ruling by a lower court that found that Mortgage Grader’s claims related to the “abstract idea” of anonymous loan shopping and that the patents obtained by the firm didn’t include an “inventive concept.” Mortgage Grader filed a lawsuit in January 2013 against Costco Wholesale and ... Read More

Information Key to Third-Party Vendor Oversight

The financial crisis has led to a broader, more demanding quality control process to ensure that mistakes are never repeated and that financial institutions adhere strictly to compliance requirements. As a result, mortgage lenders are much more vulnerable now to enforcement actions if they are found to have inadequate controls in place or to be noncompliant. One of the pitfalls lenders worry about is being held responsible – and potentially liable – for the actions of third-party ... 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