Origination

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) revealed in its latest refinance report that the GSEs have together reached a landmark three million refinances under HARP.

Consumers apparently haven't gotten the memo that mortgage standards are tightening, if responses to Fannie Mae's January National Housing Survey are any indication: Fifty-two percent of respondents in the company's latest survey said they think it would be easy to get a mortgage today, reflecting a climb of 2 percentage points. The number of consumers saying it would be difficult to obtain a loan fell 3 points, meanwhile, dropping to 45 percent.

In Texas, Guardian Mortgage's own EVP and COO has been honored as one of the Next 40 Mortgage Professionals to Watch by National Mortgage Professional Magazine, the company announced. Cari McCue earned a place on the list based on votes from industry peers from all around the country.

Mortgage Master's Jimmy Yerman is moving up in the world. The super-regional mortgage bank named the 23-year industry veteran as its new mid-Atlantic regional manager.

National Real Tax Tracking (NRTT), a nationwide real estate tax management firm headquartered in Chicago, announced the promotion of Kelly Houseman-Hebert to managing director.

In its weekly published Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 4.23 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending February 6, down from 4.32 percent previously. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac, once again pointed to weaker housing data as a factor in this week's rate changes, noting declines in December pending home sales and a negative contribution to GDP from fixed residential investment.

Churchill Mortgage announced the opening of its first brick and mortar location in Missouri.

ValuTrac Software, a software solutions provider to the appraisal management and mortgage lending industry, announced a system-to-system integration of its technology with LendingQB.

Using weekly stats published by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Capital Economics calculated a 2.5 percent increase in applications last month, turning the trend around from an 18.2 percent decline in December and a 1.3 percent drop in November. With the refinance boom in the rearview, Capital Economics shifted its focus to purchase applications, which rose 3.1 percent in January. As for future movements, the firm's outlook paints an unclear picture.

Borrowers who refinanced last year will save on net about $21 billion in interest over 2014, according to the results of Freddie Mac's latest quarterly refinance analysis. The company's report shows the average interest rate reduction among refinancers in the fourth quarter was about 1.5 percentage points, translating into a savings of about 25 percent. Those who refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) during Q4 saw an average rate reduction of 1.7 percentage points, meanwhile.