Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Despite a projected drop in home-lending activity this year, there have been few mass layoffs so far in the industry. Two bank mergers will result in job cuts.
Economic forecasts for the mortgage industry have loan originations tumbling from around $2 trillion in 2016 to roughly $1.6 trillion this year.
The lower expected activity is the result of rising interest rates that will drive down refinances. Such reductions are typically followed by industry layoffs.
From:: Financing
The Department of Justice has weighed in on the lawsuit filed by PHH Corp. against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. At issue is the constitutionality of the bureau’s structure.
In October, a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of PHH. The court found the bureau’s sole director structure to be unconstitutional.
Then the CFPB filed a petition appealing the court’s initial decision. That petition was granted last month. In addition, the appeals court vacated the October ruling.
From:: Financing
Not only has new mortgage business increased for each of the past four weeks, but the pace of activity now stands at the highest level in eight months.
Mortgage Daily’s U.S. Mortgage Market Index, which is based on average per-user rate locks by OpenClose clients, was 187 in the week ended March 17.
That turned out to be the highest level for the index, a gauge of upcoming loan originations, since the week ended July 29, 2016, when it came in at 199.
From:: Financing
A portfolio of deeply delinquent residential loans has been sold through the auction process by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
The McLean, Virginia-based firm began marketing the nonperforming mortgages on Feb. 16. Originally there were five pools with $759 million in loans.
On Friday, Freddie Mac disclosed that it successfully sold four pools with 3,621 loans that have an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $667 million.
From:: Financing
More than 70 events related to real estate finance are taking place during the current 90-day period. Covered topics include reverse mortgages, leads and mortgage servicing rights.
The Mortgage Daily Conference Calendar has 33 mortgage-related events listed for this month. Another 22 are on the schedule for April, while there are 18 the following month.
A separate page for each month includes convention dates, hosts, locations and websites. Links are included to stories about the events and archived back to 1999.
From:: Financing
Servicers of residential loans granted borrowers more favorable terms on their mortgages than on their original contracts at a pace that was the strongest in four months.
When the first month of this year concluded, mortgages servicers had completed 29,371 loan modifications. It was the most since September 2016, when there were 30,799.
Volume — including modifications completed through proprietary programs and the Home Affordable Modification Program — totaled 28,550 in the final month of last year.
From:: Financing
Ahead of the Federal Reserve Board’s announcement, mortgage rates turned sharply higher. But a decline could be in the offing.
New residential loans that were closed during the month of February 2017 had an average 30-year note rate of 4.36 percent.
The average rate moved higher from 4.31 percent the previous month. It was also increased from 4.22 percent a year previous.
From:: Financing
During the past month, the country’s mortgage bankers have grown more optimistic about the level of residential loan originations during the first half of this year.
Home-lending volume, including refinances and loans to finance home purchases, is expected to total $361 billion during the first-three months of this year.
Production is then expected to jump to $450 billion in the second quarter before retreating to $437 billion during the following three-month period.
From:: Financing
Changes to Radian Guaranty Inc.’s guidelines include insuring a non-agency jumbo product offered by a unit of United Guaranty Corp.’s former parent.
The Philadelphia-based organization is expanding its guidelines on jumbo mortgages as high as $1 million that are secured by primary residences.
The expansion includes increased loan-to-value ratios, according to the mortgage insurance company. It also includes more easing in required FICO scores.
From:: Financing
Driven by multifamily activity, permits to build new housing decreased last month. But apartments drove up the rate of completed construction.
Municipalities issued a preliminary 84,500 building permits for the construction of single-family and multifamily properties during February 2017.
Permits fell from an upwardly revised 87,300 the previous month but were no different than the upwardly revised figure the same month last year.
From:: Financing