Origination

The Federal Reserve released Monday its January 2014 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, a poll examining changes in lending standards and demand in the latest quarter. Whether it was because of higher hurdles to clear or last year's rise in interest rates, a moderate fraction of banks reported a drop in demand for prime purchase mortgages, with a combined 47.9 percent saying demand was weaker. Only 19.7 percent saw greater consumer interest in prime residential loans.

For the entire year, industry numbers point to a total of $1.8 trillion in originations, well above what many analysts projected at the opening of the year. Given the current trend of declining mortgage rates and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's expected push to open credit availability at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FBR Capital Markets says we might see originations in 2014 push to $1.3 trillion or higher, depending on how the next few months play out.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) announced the promotion of both Mike Kull and Dean Dardzinski to VP national account manager.

While most housing metrics ended 2013 on a promising growth path, mortgage origination volumes closed out the year on a decidedly sour note, Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) says in its year-end Mortgage Monitor Report. "[H]igher interest rates and seasonality pushed monthly originations to the lowest level since 2008, and the current interest rate environment seems to have also brought an end to the refinancing wave we've observed for the last several years," said Herb Blecher, SVP of BKFS Data & Analytics.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) latest underwriting survey shows lending standards have continued to relax as banks duke it out over a dwindling market. Despite the drop in standards, examiners indicated risk in residential mortgage portfolios remained unchanged or decreased at 87 percent of banks. Still, OCC cautions banks to ensure they're giving "appropriate attention" to underwriting, loan structures, and loan administration.

The average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) came down to 4.32 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending January 30, Freddie Mac reported in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Norcom Mortgage announced its entry into the Florida market with the opening of a new branch in Trinity. The Connecticut-based lender also announced the appointment of Barry Horvath to lead operations at the new location.

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC appointed Ed Ciemny to lead its office in Oak Brook, Illinois, the company announced.

Mortgage application volume remained essentially flat last week, with refinance and purchase loan numbers canceling each other out, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday. According to MBA's Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, loan application volume fell a scant 0.2 percent (seasonally adjusted) for the week ending January 24. The results include an adjustment to account for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, on which markets were closed. Unadjusted, applications fell 9 percent week-over-week.

LendingQB unveiled on Monday its latest innovation: a consumer Web portal designed to keep pipelines flowing with lucrative leads.