JPMorgan Chase reaped a net income of $461 million in first-quarter income from mortgage production and servicing, a slight change of pace from $1.1 billion seen in net losses last year. The bank said that the results came off 33 percent in application volume from the first quarter. Except for repurchase losses, revenue stemming from mortgage production climbed to $1.6 billion, up 80 percent from the previous year. Repurchase losses hovered at $302 million, a carry-over from $420 million in repurchase losses seen last year.

Democratic state attorneys general circulated a letter Thursday that called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and their regulator ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô to move forward with principal reductions. FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco continues to resist calls by lawmakers and policymakers to implement new loan modifications for homeowners, stressing the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£preserve and conserve├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø mandate. Coakley and others were joined this week by International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde.

A brokerage owner and three mortgage loan officers in New York faced future in prison Thursday as the authorities prepared to sentence the former and the latter pled guilty to mortgage fraud. MReport culled the latest accounts of fraud from a news publication and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Of the three loan officers, one may reportedly face up to 30 years in prison, while the other two each face 50 years. Tens of millions of dollars lost in their schemes resulted in loan defaults and bilked lenders.

Mortgage rates fell once more as economic worries accelerate on the heels of a disappointing jobs report and debt crises overseas, with rates for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slamming into new lows. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac found the 15-year loan cresting at 3.11 percent, a new all-time low below 3.13 percent seen in early March. Freddie also said that the 30-year loan yet again averaged 3.88 percent, down from 3.98 percent last week. The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell from 2.86 percent to 2.85 percent, while the 1-year ARM went up to 2.80 percent from 2.78 percent.

In Georgia, SunTrust Banks, Inc., has appointed a new leader within its consumer division. The financial institution recently announced the addition of Reginald Davis as SunTrust├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós executive vice president and head of consumer deposit products. Prior to joining SunTrust, Davis was the president of RBC Bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós U.S. operations. In his role for RBC, Davis headed up all aspects of the bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós consumer, mortgage, wealth management, and commercial units.

Fannie Mae has approved a new underwriter for debt securities. Multi-Bank Securities, Inc., recently announced that it has now been added as part of Fannie├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Access program. Michigan-based MBS operates as a fixed-income securities broker-dealer, and the company serves credit unions, banks, municipalities, and other institutions around the U.S. Through its underwriting activities, MBS also provides wholesale deposits to various financial institutions.

Ally Financial will soon take leave of mortgage broker-dealer activities and exit its share of the marketplace. The source said that Ally will honor all existing trades. Ally said that it will continue to operate broker-dealer activities in the insurance share of the marketplace. News outlets report that the federal government owns 74 percent of the company, the result of more than $17 billion in bailout money it received to withstand the financial crisis. Many reportedly expect Ally to file for bankruptcy for the Residential Capital mortgage subsidiary it owns.

Mortgage rates fell to lows not seen in a month on the heels of an underwhelming jobs report and concerns that Spain may follow Greece into default-scenario territory. Real estate Web site Zillow found interest rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage zigzagging across the country, just as it fell from 3.81 percent to 3.73 percent this week. Rates for the 15-year loan hovered near 2.95 percent, while those for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages slumped to 2.56 percent. The Labor Department flattened expectations by reporting that the economy added only 120,000 jobs in March.

Home prices slid 0.9 percent in January before likely slowing to a crawl in February, analytics provider Lender Processing Services said Monday. The company released a Home Price Index that showed home prices averaging $195,000, signaling a seventh straight month of price declines. Of nearly 600 metro areas, 524 encountered price declines, with a dip in prices for 39 states. Pittsburgh emerged from the largest 26 metro areas as the only city to experience increases in average home prices since January 2005.

For many Americans, 2012 may be the year to own a new home and trade up on the mortgage, if results from Fannie Mae's latest survey say anything. The mortgage giant released results Monday that found 33 percent of respondents with the expectation that home prices will increase over the next year, a 5 percentage point climb from the month before and the highest over the last 12 months. The respondents said that home prices could tick up by 0.9 percent over the next year, just as 39 percent of Americans agreed that mortgage rates will likely ascend in the next year.