When it comes to doing business with Fannie Mae, Wells Fargo's volume is almost three-times that of its closest competitor, Chase Home Finance, IMF found.

Monthly production of single-family MBS went into a steady, year-long decline at the beginning of 2013. In December, total single-family MBS issuance fell to just $77.1 billion, the lowest monthly production figure since July 2011.

Freddie Mac reported new buyback demands on $3.3 billion of mortgages during the third quarter, a stunning 31 percent increase from the previous period.

As an industry, banks assigned a fair-market value of $48.4 billion to their mortgage servicing rights, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Trends.

The amount of outstanding mortgage-backed securities increased again in the third quarter of 2013.

Originations of home-equity loans are up in 2013, led by credit unions.

Compared to June 30, MBS investments by REITs are off 6 percent. Moreover, the industry has lost nearly all of the huge volume of MBS that were acquired in early 2012.

During the first half of 2013, only about $2.05 billion of FHA loans exceeded $625,500, or about 1.5 percent of FHA business, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

Lenders generated an estimated $218 billion in purchase mortgages during the third quarter, the highest three-month volume since the third quarter of 2007.

Mortgage debt outstanding is on the rise again after after five long years of winter. Should mortgage servicers pop the champagne?