The Lede

UExpress, May 12, 2016--Lew SichelmanRising mortgage rates might seem like nothing but bad news for those in the market to buy a home. But there may be a silver lining for consumers: When rates change in either direction, many lenders change their product lines.

Reuters, May 11, 2017--Dan FreedWells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, is hoping this year to sell bonds backed by mortgages without government guarantees for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, the head of the bank's consumer lending division said on Thursday.

National Mortgage Professional, May 12, 2017--Phil HallZillow reports two Florida markets, Orlando and Tampa, are the best markets for first-time buyers due to the availability of affordable homes and a somewhat higher inventory than other metro areas.

HousingWire, May 12, 2017--Brena SwansonThe industry needs to replace roughly 200,000 loan officers over the next decade as they head toward retirement, according to XINNIX, which helps train mortgage lending professionals.

HousingWire, May 12, 2017--Brena SwansonNew York Department of Financial Services announced it will be transitioning to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry in order to manage the license application and ongoing regulation of all nondepository financial institutions doing business in New York.

Bloomberg, May 12, 2017--Sho ChandraData released Friday showed consumer retail purchases rose last month, albeit less than forecast, after a March gain that was revised from a decline, indicating the early-2017 slowdown was transitory. The consumer-price index stabilized in April following the first drop in a year, though a gauge excluding food and energy posted the smallest year-over-year increase since October 2015.

The Atlantic--Derek ThompsonIt might be one of the most important policies in the U.S. economy, but the mortgage-interest deduction sounds esoteric to most people. Perhaps that's because, for most people, it's completely irrelevant.

Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2017--Lev Borodovsky (subscription)Rising demand for luxury apartments has spurred an epic building boom that now threatens the health of this sector of the U.S. housing market.

HousingWire, May 12, 2017--Nima GhamsariThere are a few best practices that can take some of the complexity out of getting a digital platform in place, and could end up saving your organization a huge amount of time and money in the long-run.

New York Times, May 14, 2017--Conor DoughertyHomeowners are moving less, creating a drag on the economy, fewer commissions for real estate brokers and a brutally competitive market for first-time home shoppers who cannot find much for sale and are likely to be disappointed by real estate's spring selling season.

Mortgage Daily, May 12, 2017Although a larger number of mortgage servicers results in some that present more risk, that is offset by the benefits of diversification.

Mortgage Daily, May 15, 2017The U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily and OpenClose for the week the finished on May 12 fell by 11 percent.

Mortgage Daily, May 12, 2017While home lending slowed at Navy Federal Credit Union, it was off less than the industry as a whole. Mortgage staffing and servicing, meanwhile, increased.

Business Insiders, May 14, 2017--Joe CiolliInvestors are wagering on closures and bankruptcies - events that would hurt holders of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

National Mortgage News, May 12, 2017--Ian McKendry (subscription)Republicans are working on a plan that could extend its reach so that it may be used to overturn certain policies all the way back to 1996. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has led the effort to explore the outer bounds of the obscure legislative process that had hardly been used before President Trump took office.

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