Category: News and Trends

Commercial banks continue to add multifamily mortgages to their balance sheets at a strong clip.

Equifax, Atlanta, reported total balance of write-offs year-to-date in March for first mortgages, home equity lines of credit and home equity loans fell to $9.5 billion in the first quarter, a nine-year low and a year-over-year decrease of 22.7 percent.

NEW YORK–Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said the real estate finance industry must continue its vigilance in ensuring that the secondary mortgage market continues to function efficiently.

NEW YORK–It’s a perpetual question these days: is the federal government too involved in the secondary market, and what can be done to attract more private capital?

NEW YORK–Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said the economic tea leaves suggest a “very positive backdrop” for the nation’s housing and mortgage markets.

MBA NewsLink recently posed questions to Lionel Urban, founding partner and chairman of board of PCLender LLC, Reno, Nev. 

The commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate held steady in April, increasing just one basis point to 4.23 percent, reported Trepp, New York.

Fitch Ratings, New York, said early performance indicators for its rated re-performing loan residential mortgage-backed securities transactions is in line with expectations and slightly better than their non-rated counterparts.

Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C. said the housing market–stuck in low gear during most of the recovery–is showing signs of picking up and becoming “unstuck.”

J.D. Power, New York, said larger banks made “significant” gains in customer satisfaction measures in the past year, while mid-size and regional bank satisfaction leveled off.