News

Amidst the positive May job reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), consumer attitudes concerning the housing market showed vast improvement for the month of May, according to results from Fannie Mae's May 2015 National Housing Survey. These positive changes also support the case for an increase in housing activity this year.

Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a title insurance underwriter that partners with independent agents to improve their competitive position in the marketplace, recently announced in a press release the promotion of Jeff Stein to SVP and Southeast regional counsel after five years of working with the company.

Black Knight Financial Services recently released their April 2015 Mortgage Monitor finding that the refinance share of the mortgage origination market was over 50 percent in the first quarter of 2015, a first since the third quarter of 2013. Black Knight reviewed refinance originations as a share of the total market in the report. Black Knight reviewed refinance originations as a share of the total market in the report. They also examined the tightening of current credit score requirements when dealing with both refinance and purchase originations.

Deutsche Bank recently released research titled “The Outlook in MBS and Securitized Products” finding that although a large piece of the market focuses on bank demand for mortgage-backed securities (MBS), not much focus has been placed on the shape of that demand. The report also noted that banks are adding longer lengths on MBS that would drop in value as rates go up.

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland economist Daniel Hartley and Nathaniel Baum-Snow, a professor at Brown University found that for over four decades, the demographic compositions in and near the downtown areas in medium and large U.S. cities have shifted. The residents in these areas make more money, receive better educations, and are not likely to be minorities.

For May, mortgage credit availability experienced an increase, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report that analyzes data from Ellie Mae's AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool. According to the index, the MCAI increased 0.5 percent to 122.6 in May.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint in federal district court against RPM Mortgage, Inc. and its CEO, Erwin Robert Hirt, for illegally paying loan originators bonuses and higher commissions to encourage them to draw consumers toward higher mortgages, according to a recent press release. The CFPB also filed a proposal that would require RPM to pay $18 million to consumers and a $1 million civil penalty.

While the nation's unemployment rate (5.5 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (8.7 million) for May 2015 remained virtually unchanged from the previous month, the number of jobs added in May increased substantially from April up to 280,000, according to the May 2015 Employment Summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday.

Churchill Mortgage recently announced the new hiring of 15 industry professionals across its California, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia branches. The company’s latest additions are an effort to be prepared for National Homeownership Month in June and to support continued growth through the summer months.

Mid America Mortgage, Inc. (Mid America) owner and CEO Jeff Bode announced in a recent press release that the lender has hired David Tracy, former Fannie Mae underwriting consultant as its national underwriting manager. Tracy has over 20 years of residential and commercial mortgage experience and will be responsible for revitalizing Mid America’s underwriting operations nationwide.