The boom in mortgage originations during the second quarter of 2016 pushed volume higher in all the major product categories, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. The conventional-conforming sector saw the biggest increase in originations, a 36.0 percent jump from the first three months of the year. Lenders produced an estimated $272.0 billion of conventional-conforming mortgages, which represented ... [Includes two data charts]
Read More
Since the beginning of summer, at least eight mortgage-related merger and acquisition deals have come to light and more are on the way, according to an analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. To date, most of the activity has involved nonbank purchasers, with at least two of the acquirers – Home Point Financial and Caliber Home Loans – having private equity behind them. And of the eight, only one involves the sale of stock through a “franchise” transaction ...
Read More
American International Group early this week announced an agreement to sell its mortgage insurance subsidiary, United Guaranty Corp., to Arch Capital Group for $3.4 billion in cash and securities as part of AIG’s plan to become a leaner, more profitable insurer. As of the midway point in 2016, UG was the top private MI in traditional new insurance written, with an 18.8 percent share of the market. Arch MI ranked as the smallest of the seven active firms, with an ...
Read More
Despite the FHA loss of market share to the private mortgage insurance business in the second quarter of 2016, stakeholders continue to believe that an FHA premium reduction is not likely to occur any time soon. Analysts with Keefe Bruyette & Woods said that, while investor concern about an FHA price cut remains elevated, the likelihood of a cut “is not very high” and the impact would be limited since the FHA is likely to cut rates only by about 30 basis points before hitting the ...
Read More
Mortgage delinquencies declined in the second quarter of 2016 compared with the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Industry analysts suggest that ongoing improvements to mortgage performance are driven by economic trends along with home price appreciation. According to the MBA, the serious delinquency rate, not adjusted for seasonal factors, declined on a quarterly basis for prime loans, subprime loans, FHA loans ... [Includes one data chart]
Read More
The Federal Housing Finance Agency again made clear that it has no immediate plans to lower the guaranty fees charged by the two government-sponsored enterprises in conservatorship. Guaranty fees more than doubled from 2011 to 2015, rising to 56 basis points, according to the FHFA’s most recent annual report on g-fees. Moreover, g-fees crept up in the past year, averaging 59 bps in 2015, compared to 57 bps in 2014. But the FHFA believes that slight uptick ...
Read More
Among the top 10 lenders in the second quarter of 2016, PennyMac Financial posted the largest increase to originations on a quarterly basis and compared with the second quarter of 2015, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The lender plans to continue to grow, including launching a wholesale-broker operation in mid-2017 and putting an emphasis on consumer-direct production. PennyMac reported originations of $16.11 billion in the second quarter, up 47.9 percent ...
Read More
Most of the participants in the review processes instituted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prior to issuing four major mortgage-related rules felt rushed by the process and unsatisfied with the final results, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. GAO reported on the experience of panel participants involved in analyzing the likely effects of the CFPB’s TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (TRID), the mortgage servicing regulation, its loan ...
Read More