Category: News and Trends

Rural Housing Service Administrator Tony Hernandez said recent changes to the agency’s refinancing provisions will make it easier for borrowers to finance RHS loans and stay in their homes.

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said foreclosure activity increased slightly in April, but continued to drop from a year ago. It also reported the nation’s foreclosure inventory fell to the lowest level since September 2007.

The TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rules have forced lenders to rethink their processes and rely more on technology to originate loans more efficiently. To do this, smart lenders have implemented dynamic, sophisticated technology to help process, track and monitor loans during the origination and approval process in support of TRID compliance.

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said 268,000 homeowners regained equity in the first quarter, bringing the total mortgaged residential properties with to 46.7 million, or 92 percent of all mortgaged properties.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and more than a half-dozen industry trade groups, in a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, expressed reservations about a potential last-minute addition to the new Uniform Residential Loan Application.

As the housing market continues to recover, homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages are increasingly concentrated in the Rust Belt, while West Coast homeowners are less likely to be in negative equity, reported Zillow Inc., Seattle.

Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $825 on each loan they originated in the first quarter, up from $493 per loan in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.

Fannie Mae said late Friday that it would delay release of its Version 10.0 of Desktop Underwriter, citing the need to conduct more testing. 

Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $35.3 billion in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning, as three of four major investor groups increased their holdings, a 1.2 percent increase over the fourth quarter.

The U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate rose in May for the second month, reported Fitch Ratings, New York.