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Inside Mortgage Finance

December 2, 2010

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Refinance Lending Up Sharply in 3Q10, But Many Potential Borrowers Stranded

Refinance lending surged to its highest level in more than a year during the third quarter of 2010 in a relatively feeble response to record-low mortgage rates, according to a new ranking and market analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Mortgage lenders generated...[Includes four data charts and one graph] Read More

Calls Increasing to Separate Appraiser Compensation From Interim Final Rule on Appraisal Independence

Various industry factions are pushing a statutory interpretation that would allow the Federal Reserve to use normal rulemaking procedures to implement controversial new provisions requiring the payment of “customary and reasonable” fees for residential appraisals. The complexity of the issues surrounding... Read More

Senators Criticize “Dual Track” Approach, Servicer Incentives, Fed Rep Calls for National Standards

A continuing deluge of constituent phone calls complaining about mortgage servicers is compelling Congress to question whether current incentives are “perverse,” as one lawmaker put it, and to press the industry and its regulators to abandon the “dual track” of pursuing foreclosure while loan modification efforts are underway. “The process of having... Read More

Government’s Foreclosure Alternative Initiative Off to a Lumbering Start

The effectiveness of yet another Obama administration housing rescue mission – the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program – is being called into question. The primary options available under HAFA are short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. Although the government-sponsored... Read More

HAMP Costing Far Less Than Expected As Participation Rates Prove Lackluster

Government analysts are predicting that the Home Affordable Modification Program is going to end up costing taxpayers a lot less money than originally projected, mostly because participation rates haven’t lived up to expectations. The Congressional Budget Office this week reported... Read More

HUD Efforts to Upgrade FHA Technology Off To a Good Start, But Better Reporting is Needed

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has done a good job fulfilling legal requirements in its efforts to modernize FHA technology during fiscal 2010, but the effort still left a few things to be desired, according to the Government Accountability Office. The GAO attributed... Read More

Editorial Note:

There were some errors in the Large Mortgage Servicer Delinquency Rate table published in the Nov. 28 issue of Inside Mortgage Finance. The revised data show...[Includes one data chart] Read More

Mortgage Market at a Glance

Weekly mortgage rates and application survey data as well as indexes for ARMs.

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As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

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