Origination

Experian estimates new mortgage origination volumes totaled $292 billion for the months of April through June, reflecting a 15 percent increase from a slow first quarter. Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) led in gains for the quarter, totaling $35 billion—up 25 percent over the same period last year. Over the last 12 months, HELOC originations totaled $120 billion, marking a 27 percent increase from the prior period.

AEI's National Mortgage Risk Index measured 11.3 percent last month, little changed from July's index, the group said. As a stress test, the index measures the percentage of loans that would be at risk of turning sour in the event of an economic downturn. Though the index has come down in recent months, it remains nearly twice the acceptable level "conducive to a stable market," AEI said.

​Refinance activity remained more or less level from June to July, though interest in the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) continued to dwindle, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported. The falloff in HARP refinancing continues even as the government works to revitalize the program.

As home values have made a rapid ascent in the past few years, those on the sales side point to lagging appraisal models as a major hurdle to finalizing transactions. In a newly released report, however, FNC maintains that despite anecdotal reports, "there is no strong evidence that low appraisal valuations contributed to mortgages falling through."

A jury has convicted Maryland woman Annika Boas for her role in a residential mortgage fraud scheme. According to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, Boas stood accused of working with other defendants to falsify or steal identity documents to secure residential mortgage loans.

After jumping up last week, mortgage rates were weighed down in the latest measure by mixed housing developments. Freddie Mac released Thursday the results of its Primary mortgage Market Survey, showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) easing to an average interest rate of 4.20 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending September 25. The 30-year FRM averaged 4.23 percent in the previous week's survey, a four-month high.

After rising on the back of a double-digit jump in refinances, mortgage applications experienced another dive last week, according to figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). For the week ending September 19, the group reported a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent decline in overall loan application volumes, a step backward after the previous week's 7.9 percent recovery.

According to information released Monday by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), the share of home purchase loans made to low- and moderate-income applicants declined to 26 percent in 2013 from 31 percent the year prior. The share of refinance loans going to those borrowers came up just slightly, rising to 20 percent from 19 percent in 2012.

An upward revision in GDP growth for the second quarter bolstered optimism at Fannie Mae for the rest of the year's economic track. The mortgage giant's Economic and Strategic Research Group put out its newest outlook on Tuesday, calling for accelerated growth following the most recent news of 4.2 percent annualized GDP growth in the year's second quarter. On the other hand, the housing market is still struggling to find any real traction.

Examining a sample of loans initiated in May, mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae calculated a closing rate of 61.1 percent for all loans in its August report, up from 57.7 percent in July's report. "The closing rate in August was the highest since we began tracking this data three years ago," said Jonathan Corr, president and COO of Ellie Mae. "This was further indication that lenders are working every deal and making sure leads don't slip away."