The most improved states in the last three months were Oregon, Michigan, Florida, California and Kentucky, with Oregon jumping more than 2 percent. And on a year-over-year basis, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Oregon and Rhode Island saw the biggest increases. In fact, since this time last year, MiMi values for Nevada have improved more than 11 percent.
Read More »Insurance Providers Are Currently Compliant With Enhanced PMI Eligibility Requirements
Several leading mortgage insurance providers for the industry have announced that if the enhanced Private Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements (PMIERs) announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) went into effect today, they would be in complete compliance.
Read More »April’s Forecasts for Existing Home Sales and Prices Show Housing is Gaining Momentum
April's target annual sales rate for existing homes of 5.31 million is an increase of 2.3 percent from March and 11.8 percent from April 2014, according to Auction.com. "Among the factors contributing to the jump in March's existing home sales, pent-up demand from weak sales in January and February probably played a significant role," Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga said.
Read More »FHFA: Home Prices Nearing Pinnacle Reached in 2007
U.S. house prices overall rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February, according to the agency’s monthly House Price Index report. Prices were up 5.4 percent nationwide compared to this time last year. The HPI is calculated by using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Read More »Legal League Servicer Summit Brings Mortgage Industry and Default Servicing Law Firms Together
Now in its seventh year, the Servicer Summit is a biannual gathering of leaders from both the mortgage servicing and legal communities focused on spurring shared educational opportunities and honest conversation. The novel format encourages all attendees to contribute. Leaders of roundtables serve merely as conversation starters and travel the room with a microphone so that any attendee may respond to a prompt or ask a question.
Read More »Lenders Increasingly Embracing Automated Mortgage Workflows
Adapting automation technology on a timely basis to help lenders weather increasing regulatory demands, meet mandates and stay ahead of the competition relies on a solid workflow management foundation.
Read More »Slow Q1 Does Not Change Fannie Mae’s 2015 Forecast for Economic Growth
Purchase mortgage applications rebounded sharply in April from a recent slowdown, reaching their highest level in almost two years, marking the second monthly surge in purchase apps this year. Combined with continued low mortgage rates, the rise in purchase apps could indicate a strong homebuying season in the spring and summer.
Read More »Quicken Loans Lawsuit Accuses HUD and Justice Department of Coercion
Quicken, the largest lender of Federal Housing Administration mortgage loans in the country, filed its suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, claiming the agencies have been trying to bully the company into making “blatantly false” statements and demanding the company pay “an inexplicable penalty or face legal action,” according to a statement released by Quicken Friday.
Read More »GSEs Revise Requirements for Private Mortgage Insurance Eligibilty
In order to prevent these losses in the future, the GSEs moved to strengthen their financial requirements of approved PMI insurers, thus reducing overall risk. The new requirements will ensure that PMIs can meet their agreed-upon obligations regardless of current economic conditions or the marketplace.
Read More »First Quarter Earnings Reports Robust for Nation’s Largest Financial Firms
For San Francisco-based Wells Fargo in Q1, revenues increased by 3 percent year-over-year up to $21.3 billion. Although net income slightly declined from the same quarter a year ago from $5.9 billion to $5.8 billion, noninterest income for the bank jumped by $29 million up to $10.3 billion. The bank received higher income in Q1 from trading activities, debt security gains, mortgage origination gains, and insurance, but the higher income was offset by lower income in mortgage servicing, which was at $108 million for Q1 compared to $235 million for Q4 2014. Wells Fargo posted mortgage banking noninterest income of $1.5 billion for Q1.
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