Origination

Texan law firm Farris Law Group, PLLC announced the hiring of three new team members to focus on the company's growth and expansion, especially in the mortgage document preparation department.

Home sales declined in March, but demand for mortgage credit increased, according to the US Housing Market Monthly from Capital Economics. Recently, the Fed reported an increase in home purchase applications in April, and credit "loosened a touch," the report stated. The firm maintains an overall positive outlook on the market despite the small decline in March sales and quashes any concerns of another bubble forming. In fact, Capital Economics calculated it could take "until 2017 for housing to return to fair value."

As the housing market experiences a burgeoning recovery with rising prices, an uptick in sales, and an increase in housing starts, Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth A. Duke points out purchase-originations remain "subdued," especially among individuals with less than stellar credit scores. While originations are down across the board, "[t]he drop in originations has been most pronounced among borrowers with lower credit scores," Duke said at the Housing Policy Executive Council Thursday in Washington, D.C.

CoreLogic, based in Irvine, California, announced the availability of its LoanSafe suite of risk mitigation solutions through seven different loan origination systems (LOS).

zIngenuity, a risk management and mortgage fulfillment services provider based in the Dallas area, has reinvented its website to align with its current services offerings, the company announced.

The latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows home purchasing power remained high in the first quarter even as median prices continued their upward trend. Nationally, the median existing single-family home price was $176,600, up 11.3 percent year-over-year--the strongest yearly price increase since the fourth quarter of 2005, when the national median price jumped 13.6 percent over the prior year.

Commerce Mortgage, a leading provider of mortgage services in the Western United States, announced the opening of its newest branch in Carlsbad, California.

After spending the last month approaching record lows, fixed mortgage rates reversed the trend this week. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.42 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 9, up from last week, when it averaged 3.35 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.83 percent. According to Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac, the rise in fixed rates this week was a reaction to April's better than expected employment report.

LendingTree, an online source for competitive home loan offers, announced the official launch of a new advertising campaign which will run across all marketing channels, including television, radio, print, online, direct marketing, and social media.

A shortage of homes on the market hamstrung home touring activity in April, but buyers still seem determined to get their offers in, according to Redfin. The brokerage's Real-Time Demand Pulse--a monthly analysis of tour and offer activity from homebuyers across 20 U.S. markets--shows tour requests and signed offers posted stronger monthly gains in April than they did at the same time last year. However, a lack of available homes "softened touring strength somewhat."