Reverse mortgage lenders started out strong in the first three month of 2018 with a 19.2 percent increase in Home Equity Conversion Mortgage production from the previous period. HECM endorsements totaled $5.4 billion in the first quarter, with purchase reverse loans accounting for the bulk of originations, 81.9 percent. First quarter production was up 18.5 percent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, HECM mortgage-backed securities issuance totaled $2.97 billion for the quarter, down from $3.25 billion in the prior quarter, Ginnie Mae data showed. The top five HECM originators in sequential order – American Advisors Group, Reverse Mortgage Funding, One Reverse Mortgage, Liberty Home Equity Solutions, and Synergy One Lending – accounted for $1.66 billion, or 30.8 percent, of total production during the first quarter. American Advisors maintained its top ranking with $841.4 million of HECM loans, which ... [Charts]

Wells Fargo ranked first among non-agency jumbo originators, followed by Chase and Bank of America…

Mortgage production indicators were down almost across the board during the first quarter of 2018, but the jumbo market posted some of the biggest declines of all. [Includes three data charts.]

In settling with the SEC, Merrill Lynch did not admit or deny the findings…

JMP likes the higher profit margins that accompany non-QM lending…

Besides selling RFC, the publicly traded FNB is consolidating 20 of its branches in a cost cutting move.

Home equity outstanding hit a peak of $13.43 trillion in the first quarter of 2006 then tumbled during the financial crisis...

To conservatives in the financial services industry, Mick Mulvaney is a hero.

Bank of America once again ranked first in terms of new HELOC commitments, according to Inside Mortgage Finance…

Home-equity lending stumbled in early 2018, although borrower demand and lender interest both seem relatively strong, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. [Includes three data charts.]