Origination

After recently reporting predictions of declining originations, FBR Capital Markets & Co., now says the market looks a little brighter, and a resurgence of refinances through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will contribute to originations volumes this year. While FBR maintains its prediction that origination volume will be lower than the volumes recorded in the second half of last year, the company now suggests originations "will largely be better than the 20-25 percent drop-off we projected late last week."

After spiking one week ago, first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 346,000 for the week ending April 6, a drop of 42,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to fall to 365,000. Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 30 were revised up to 388,000 from the originally reported 385,000, increasing an unexpected 31,000 from one week earlier.

Specialized Business Software, a provider of custom software solutions for insurance, mortgage and financial services companies, announced the release of its web-based X12 EDI Translator.

The Obama administration released Wednesday its budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2014, revealing that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may require a bailout of up to $943 million to reinforce its capital reserves. In a conference call with reporters, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan explained the agency has taken steps to ensure safer new business and to increase recoveries on the older, riskier loans that brought its Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund to a negative balance.

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) announced the availability of mortgage insurance through INTEGRA Software Systems' loan origination software (LOS) systems.

McLean Mortgage Corporation, a full-service mortgage lender headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, announced the release of a new program designed to help prospective homebuyers and Realtors in a market characterized by low inventory and increased competition from cash bidders.

Even as prices continued to rise in last year's fourth quarter, American homeowners found themselves paying less in monthly mortgage payments compared to pre-bubble norms.

While the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) estimates about $482 billion of originations in Q1, FBR--citing comments from industry contacts--believes first-quarter volume to be closer to $400 billion, a drop of nearly 25 percent from the $525 billion of originations in Q4 2012. Though the year may have started slow, the investment banking advisory firm attributes the drop-off in activity to seasonal slowdown and forecasts growth throughout 2013 as low rates and government expansion efforts keep up interest in refinances.

The ongoing housing recovery bodes well for the future of commercial real estate (CRE), TD Economics (an affiliate of TD Bank) says in a recent report.

Prudential Real Estate released Tuesday the results of its first-quarter Consumer Outlook Survey, revealing Americans' sentiment toward real estate is growing more and more favorable.