Retail mortgage lending continued to lose market share in the second half of 2018, mostly due to a surge in correspondent production. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities data shows that the retail share of loans sold to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae fell to 48.6 percent last year. During the fourth quarter, sales of retail-originated loans declined by 14.9 percent, the sharpest downturn among ... [Includes two data charts] Read More

Private mortgage insurers continued to expand their presence in the flow of purchase-money mortgages into mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. In 2018, lenders sold $243.54 billion of purchase loans with private MI coverage to Fannie and Freddie, a sturdy 13.8 percent rise from 2017, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Private mortgage insurance accounted for 46.8 percent of agency ... [Includes two data charts] Read More

Mortgage banking firms employed 245,800 full-timers as of the end of November, the worst reading in 10 months, according to figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mortgage brokerage firms — listed separately in the BLS tracking system — employed 89,100 workers, a loss of 900 positions from October. A year ago, the broker segment had 92,000 full-timers. The seasonally adjusted figures, which trail the national employment numbers by a month, portend uneasiness ahead for ... Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late this week issued two separate reports assessing the effectiveness of its Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage rule and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act servicing rule. One critical question of the ATR/QM assessment is the fate of the so-called “GSE patch,” which exempts loans eligible for purchase by the two government-sponsored enterprises from the debt-to-income ratio limit of 43 percent. The exemption is set to expire by ... Read More

Mortgage repurchases by banks and thrifts took an unexpected turn higher in the third quarter of 2018, according to an Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. The banking industry reported $585.5 million in residential mortgage repurchases or indemnifications during the July-September cycle, a 38.5 percent spike from the previous quarter. The long-term trend still holds to a downward path. Year-to-date, banks and thrifts ... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Industry analysts are divided on how the Current Expected Credit Loss model accounting standard will impact mortgage lending by banks. The model, established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in 2016, is set to take effect in 2020. The accounting standard will apply to loans held in portfolio. It requires upfront recognition of credit losses using long-term economic forecasts but doesn’t allow upfront recognition of future revenues associated with a loan ... Read More

With the ink still dry on the January calendar, Mr. Cooper said it would buy Seterus and its $48.0 billion servicing platform. Now comes the big question: Which firm or portfolio is next on its buy list? As Inside Mortgage Trends went to press this week, several large bulk packages of mortgage servicing rights were ready to hit the auction market, including two that are north of $10 billion. The Seterus sale was announced on Jan. 3. Investment bankers immediately started speculating ... Read More

The Money Source Inc., Melville, NY, is exiting the retail and wholesale channels to focus its resources on growing its servicing business and correspondent platform. In an interview with Inside Mortgage Trends, TMS President Ali Vafai noted that AmeriSave Mortgage Corp., Atlanta, bought the retail platform with the wholesale division landing elsewhere. The buyer of the latter has yet to be revealed and negotiations are continuing, said Vafai. No purchase price was disclosed on ... Read More