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Inside Mortgage Trends

April 13, 2018

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Agency MBS Issuance Tumbled in 1Q18; Purchase Market Up Slightly from 2017

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae posted a two-year low in new single-family business during the first quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities disclosures. The three agencies guaranteed a total of $268.78 billion of purchase mortgages and refinance loans during the first three months of the year. That was down 19.2 percent from the previous three-month period and ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

MBA: Earnings Tanked in Fourth Quarter

Mortgage bankers reported a significant decline in profitability during the fourth quarter of 2017, taking hits on both sides of the business ledger, according to the most recent performance report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. On average, survey participants reported just $389,000 in pretax income during the fourth quarter, a 77.7 percent decline from $1.743 million in the previous three-month period. That knocked annual pretax income down to an average $5.136 million ... Read More

Mortgage Industry Sees Promise in Blockchain

Announcements involving mortgage industry participants and blockchain are coming fast and furious, with many predicting that the distributed ledger technology can improve existing processes. Some home sales have already been completed with processes involving blockchain. Ranieri Solutions recently partnered with a blockchain company. Mike Cagey, the former CEO of marketplace lender Social Finance, formed a home-equity lender that plans to use blockchain. And the ... Read More

MBA Casts the Net Far and Wide for New Chief

To date, Spencer Stuart, the search firm working to find a successor to Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Dave Stevens, has contacted roughly 40 different men and women, according to industry officials who claim to have knowledge of the process. For the most part, MBA wanted to cast a net as wide as possible, approaching current and former members of Congress, trade group officials, lobbyists and senior and veteran industry executives. Included in the initial search ... Read More

Generous Appraisals Hurt Loan Performance

Inflated house appraisals known as markups lead to higher mortgage delinquencies and slower prepayments, according to a new paper by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Policy Analysis and Research. The researchers defined markups as instances where appraisals for purchase mortgages and refinances set home values higher than those generated by automated valuation models. The working paper was based in part on home-price data on more than 100 million ... Read More

MERS to Make It Easy for Lenders to Adopt eNotes

The owner of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems recently launched a product aimed to ease lenders’ adoption of electronic promissory notes, allowing for streamlined digital-mortgage originations. MERSCORP Holdings partnered with eOriginal, a digital-mortgage vendor, to offer eNote Solutions. The product allows for the creation, execution, registration and management of electronic promissory notes, known as eNotes. “This solution will enable thousands of originators to realize the ... Read More

Cryptocurrency Revolution Eyes Homebuying

Bitcoin, the internet’s virtual currency, is slowly becoming an acceptable alternative method of payment for items, including real estate. Whether it will supplant the more traditional process of purchasing a home remains to be seen. Thomas Bayles, chief executive officer of Urban Asset Group, a house-flip firm in Los Angeles, last year facilitated a record-setting purchase of a mid-century house in Eagle Rock, CA, using bitcoins. The remodeled, five-bedroom residential property in ... Read More

Data: Primary Mortgage Insurance for Purchase Mortgage by State: 1Q18

A ranking of primary mortgage insurance for purchase mortgages by state in the first quarter of 2018. Includes private mortgage insurance, FHA, VA and USDA Rural Housing. Read More

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