Origination

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has launched a new initiative designed to mitigate the damage of housing's boom-and-bust cycles. Designed by AEI fellows Edward Pinto and Stephen Oliner, the newly unveiled Mortgage Risk Index measures the safety of lending the United States by gauging how mortgage loans would perform under stress (as defined by the experience of loans originated in 2007). According to the index, mortgage risk today is high compared to the "sound lending practices in place in 1990."

Pite Duncan, LLP, announced the promotion of Christopher Peterson to partner.

Dallas-based Wingspan continues the expansion of their business development team with the recent announcement of John Guy joining the team as SVP of business development. Guy comes to Wingspan after serving as the managing director of business development at Auction.com.

After loosening steadily for several months, credit standards for mortgage loans ended 2013 at their lowest level all year, according to the December Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae.

December's discouraging jobs report caused mortgage rates to pull back once again last week.

The latest builder application data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) suggest new home sales numbers came in below average for December. MBA's latest Builder Application Survey, a measure of application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders, shows applications for new home purchases dropped 11 percent from November to December (unadjusted). Unadjusted, MBA estimates the month saw 28,000 new home sales.

WDB Funding, LLC, announced the appointment of Andrew Pollock as the firm's president and CEO. Pollock brings 25 years' experience heading large-scale lending operations to his new role, where he is responsible for providing day-to-day leadership, managing operations, and executing the strategic direction of the company.

Representatives from the Federal Reserve's 12 districts reported moderate economic expansion across most of the country through the end of last year, with indicators pointing to more steady growth ahead. Real estate markets "generally continued to improve," according to the Fed, with most districts experiencing increase home sales activity and construction along with rising home prices. Credit standards were largely unchanged among the districts, though increased competition led to some instances of relaxed standards.

Bank of America recorded a respectable profit in last year's fourth quarter, due in part to recovering--albeit still struggling--real estate figures. BofA took in $3.4 billion in profits last quarter, beating out Q3's $2.5 billion net income and last year's $732 million. Putting a drag on Q4's profits was an estimated legal expense of $2.3 billion, which reflected ongoing exposures related to disputes over bad residential mortgage-backed securities.

Having started the new year with a slight bump, mortgage application volume continued to climb in early January, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported.