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Inside Mortgage Finance

October 15, 2009

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Mortgage Executives Say Market Conditions Remain Far From Ideal, Outlook is Cloudy

Despite strong first-half loan production volume and attractive profit margins, mortgage banking executives say continuing economic challenges and looming regulatory uncertainty leave the glass no better than half full. On a scale of one to 10, Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans, gives the market a five. “Clearly there are some green shoots,” she said during a... Read More

Industry Groups Seek Delay of RESPA Rule, Ask HUD for ‘Reasonable’ Time to Iron Out Kinks

Mortgage lenders and settlement service providers this week urged federal housing regulators to postpone the implementation date of a new, controversial Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule in favor of a “reasonable” implementation period. In a joint letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development this week, five mortgage industry trade groups warned that the frequently-asked... Read More

After Months of Speculation, a GSE Bites on Warehouse Lending as Freddie Moves Ahead

In response to months of public and private appeals from mortgage bankers hurt by the drought of warehouse funding, Freddie Mac has come out with a limited pilot program to help its single-family and multifamily lenders find adequate warehouse lines of credit to fund loans sold to the firm. The government-sponsored enterprise announced late last week a modest initiative under which... Read More

FHA May Have Already Sustained Heavy Financial Losses, Ex-Fannie Official Tells House Committee

FHA officials reassured lawmakers that the program’s mutual mortgage insurance fund is not in danger of needing federal assistance, but several industry experts, including a former official at Fannie Mae, said the fund has already suffered huge losses. Edward Pinto, a real estate financial services consultant and former chief credit officer of Fannie Mae, said the FHA already has a... Read More

Obama Administration Claims Its HAMP Goal Met But Congressional Panel Says Approach is Outdated

The Obama administration announced last week that its Home Affordable Modification Program had reached a key target – 500,000 trial mods – nearly a month ahead of schedule. The achievement, which seemed easily within reach when it was first announced, sets the industry up for a much tougher new target: converting a substantial number of these trial mods into... [Includes one chart] Read More

Jumbo Loan Originations Reported Under HMDA Down Sharply in 2008, New Analysis Reveals

Mortgage lenders reported a total of $222.04 billion in originations of loans that exceeded the old conforming loan limit of $417,000 during 2008, less than half the volume that was reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act in 2007. A new ranking and analysis by ComplianceTech, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm, reveals that 16.5 percent of total... [Includes two charts] Read More

Discussion Draft is Markup Vehicle of CFPA Bill, Debate Begins on Non-Controversial Amendments

After weeks of hearing and debate, legislation creating a new federal watchdog for consumer financial services and products and the institutions that provide them goes to markup this week with previous major changes intact and some new non-controversial refinements added. A discussion draft containing key changes, which House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-MA... Read More

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