News

Borrowers who refinanced last year will save on net about $21 billion in interest over 2014, according to the results of Freddie Mac's latest quarterly refinance analysis. The company's report shows the average interest rate reduction among refinancers in the fourth quarter was about 1.5 percentage points, translating into a savings of about 25 percent. Those who refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) during Q4 saw an average rate reduction of 1.7 percentage points, meanwhile.

Seneca Mortgage Investments LP, a real estate investment firm focused on mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), announced it has closed on its purchase of AMS Servicing.

International Document Services (IDS), a mortgage document preparation vendor based in Salt Lake City, touted the tremendous steps forward the company took in 2013 as demand for its services grew.

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.

A number of "unfair and deceptive" servicing practices "continued to plague consumers throughout 2013," the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says in a recent report. "Taking action against mortgage servicing practices that harm consumers is a key priority for the CFPB," Director Richard Cordray said. "Especially under the detailed protections of our new rules, we expect services to clean up their act and provide responsible customer service."

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 Department of Commerce reported Monday that spending in December ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $930.5 billion, 0.1 percent above November's revised estimate of $929.9 billion and 5.3 percent ahead of December 2012's $883.6 billion. December's figure was the highest since March 2009, when spending ran at a rate of $955.0 billion. Residential construction came in at a rate of $357.4 billion, its highest since June 2008.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released over the weekend its year-end ranking of commercial and multifamily servicers' volumes--and once again, Wells Fargo topped the list. According to MBA's numbers, Wells Fargo took the No. 1 spot with $434.4 billion in dollar volume and 33,354 in loan volume. Following it were PNC Real Estate ($369.6 billion, up from $337.6 billion the previous year) and Berkadia Commercial Mortgage ($235.4 billion, up from $197.3 billion).