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Inside Mortgage Finance

February 26, 2015

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Mortgage Brokers See Slight Gain in Market Share During 4Q14; Retail Lost Some Ground in 2014

The wholesale-broker channel was the only mortgage production arena to see increased volume in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. Brokers originated an estimated $34 billion in new home loans during the final three months of 2014, a gain of 6.3 percent from the previous quarter. The wholesale-broker channel gradually recovered from a disastrous first quarter, when brokers saw their market share slide to just 9.0 percent. By the end of the year, it was up to 10.0 percent. The broker channel generated...[Includes four data charts] Read More

Suddenly, Ocwen is Popular Among Investment Bankers That Want to Help With Its ‘Managed’ Liquidation

Ocwen Financial – once deemed the fastest-growing residential servicer in the nation – is now facing huge shrinkage and is undergoing what some analysts and investment bankers are now calling a managed or “controlled” liquidation. The questions facing investors and business partners of the company is how fast can Ocwen shrink and what will be left for shareholders other than a pile of cash. “This could be... Read More

Republicans Likely to Use Different Strategies To Restructure CFPB vs. Changing Bureau Rules

As Republican leaders in Congress stake out hard-line positions on structural changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Democrats are responding by digging in their heels, raising the prospects of more gridlock. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, recently stated his desire to pull the CFPB within the orbit of the congressional appropriations process. He is also interested in changing the leadership structure of the bureau from a single director to a governing board. Ranking Member Jeff Merkley, D-OR, and other Democrats are opposed... Read More

Guaranty Fee Income Keeps Growing at Fannie And Freddie, Buyback Volume Eased in 4Q14

Falling interest rates tripped up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the fourth quarter, indirectly leading to sharp declines in profitability despite continuing gains in their key mortgage-backed securities guaranty fee operations. Together, the two government-sponsored enterprises earned $1.54 billion in net income during the fourth quarter of 2014, down 74.3 percent from the previous quarter. With their retained portfolios in shrinkage mode, net interest income was down 11.9 percent from 2013. The big factor was... Read More

Appraisals and Property Issues Accounting For Larger Share of Mortgage-Closing Delays

Property characteristics and appraisals have accounted for an increasing share of the issues that delay closing of purchase mortgages, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage FinanceHousingPulse Tracking Survey. Real estate agents participating in the survey cited property issues as causing 22.5 percent of closing delays in January, based on a three-month moving average. That’s up from a 16.5 percent share as recently as October. The increase appears... Read More

Even After Taking Its Foot Off the Gas, Wells Remains Dominant in Market Share, Sees Room for Growth

Only one lender accounted for more than 10 percent of the single-family mortgage volume completed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2014: Wells Fargo. The bank also dominates deliveries to Ginnie Mae and originations of jumbo mortgages. Wells had $180.89 billion in mortgage originations in 2014, accounting for 14.6 percent of total mortgage originations, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The bank’s share of mortgage originations declined from 18.9 percent in 2013 as refinance activity slowed and nonbanks made efforts to compete for production and servicing. Officials at Wells said... Read More

Imposing Administrative Fee on Lenders is Necessary To Improve FHA Loan Quality, Strengthen Process

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro defended a key provision in the administration’s FY 2016 budget proposal that would allow the FHA to assess lenders an administrative fee to fund improvements in the loan origination and servicing processes. At a HUD budget hearing this week before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation, HUD and Related Agencies, Castro said the proposed fee would be used for risk management and technological improvements and in establishing quality-assurance policies to help lenders originate more FHA loans without fear of regulatory action or litigation. Castro responded... Read More

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