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Inside Mortgage Trends

March 24, 2017

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Public Nonbanks Had a Rough Go in 2016 But Managed to Turn Corner in 2nd Half

Publicly traded mortgage-banking firms had a rough ride in 2016, which turned out to be a turning point for one of the sector’s stalwarts, PHH Mortgage. The nine publicly traded mortgage lenders tracked by Inside Mortgage Trends posted a combined $563.8 million in net income on their mortgage-banking operations during the fourth quarter. That was up sharply from the third quarter, but it was not enough to offset huge combined losses during the first half of ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Costs Weigh on Lender Tech Considerations

Most lenders aren’t currently using so-called next-generation mortgage technology service providers, according to a survey conducted by Fannie Mae. High costs are among the reasons keeping many lenders from adopting technology that could ease the burdens borrowers face when obtaining a mortgage. Some 63.0 percent of the 184 lenders surveyed by Fannie in November said they haven’t used next-gen tech providers. Fannie released the survey results ... Read More

Mortgage Banking Profits Softened in 4Q16

Mortgage bankers ended a very good year in 2016 on a somewhat offbeat note as overall company profits sagged and production margins shrank. The average mortgage-banking operation generated $3.513 million in pretax income during the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was down 10.8 percent from the average pretax income in the trade group’s third-quarter Mortgage Bankers Performance report ... Read More

Walter/Ditech Looks to Shed Assets

Over the past three years, Walter Investment Management Corp. has posted net losses totaling $902.6 million – more than any other publicly traded mortgage company with the exception of one: Ocwen Financial, which lost $915.6 million over that period. And while Ocwen may finally be turning the corner in terms of both its regulatory problems and negative cashflow, the jury is still out on Walter, which saw its stock price fall to less than 70 cents a share this week ... Read More

Experian, Finicity Digitize Verifications

Credit bureau Experian and data services vendor Finicity have partnered to come up with a digital verification capability to help bring the lending industry to the point where a “10-by-10” mortgage becomes the norm; that is, a loan application that can be completed in 10 minutes, and the resulting mortgage closed in 10 days. Experian said its new Digital Verification Solutions will provide verification of assets and income by utilizing Finicity’s data aggregation and insight platform ... Read More

Tight Credit Could Lead to Economic Disparity

If left unresolved, the tightness of mortgage credit would result in a much lower percentage of homeowners because most potential new homebuyers would likely be Hispanic or nonwhite – groups with lower income, less wealth and lower credit scores, according to a new study by the Urban Institute. Author Laurie Goodman, co-director of UI’s Housing Finance Policy Center, noted the very tight mortgage credit situation that has developed since the mortgage crisis, which she attributed to mortgage lenders becoming more cautious than ever in their lending. Read More

Grants Launch 15 Mortgage Broker Shops

A program launched in September to provide grants to mortgage brokers has helped launch 15 new independent mortgage brokerage shops, according to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. The NAMB KickStart program provides a grant of up to $10,000 to help launch broker operations. The program started with financial support from United Wholesale Mortgage. “After mega banks pinned mortgage brokers as the scapegoats of the financial crisis in ... Read More

Retail Channel Dominated Agency Lending in 2016

Some 53.7 percent of newly originated mortgages delivered into agency mortgage-backed securities programs last year were generated through lenders’ retail production operations, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Correspondents accounted for the next largest share, 33.4 percent, of loans sold to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. The data exclude mortgages that were over six months old when they were securitized ... [Includes two data charts] Read More

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