Joseph A. Smith, the monitor overseeing servicers' compliance with last year's National Mortgage Settlement, filed reports on how the institutions involved with the settlement are dealing with the agreement. "My testing confirmed six fails in the first quarter of 2013 and one in the second quarter of 2013," Smith said in a statement issued Wednesday, adding that the "banks are all taking action to address the failures through detailed corrective action plans."
Read More »CoreLogic, Urban Institute Come Together in Strategic Alliance
CoreLogic and the Urban Institute have formed a strategic alliance to power further economic and social policy research, the two groups announced. Through the alliance, CoreLogic's data will be used to power the research conducted by the Urban Institute's newly formed Housing Finance Policy Center.
Read More »Equity Loans Launches Correspondent Channel, Recruits VPs
In Georgia, Equity Loans LLC made two announcements: the launch of its correspondent lending channel and the hiring of two new executives to support the division.
Read More »Mortgage Rates Rise in Response to Positive Economic Indicators
Long-term mortgage rates saw a jump this week following better-than-expected economic reports. Freddie Mac released Thursday the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, putting the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) at a rate of 4.46 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending December 5, up from 4.29 percent last week. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac, pinned the increases on encouraging growth in private jobs and new home sales.
Read More »Inventories Add to Third-Quarter GDP Estimates
Third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) advanced ahead of initial estimates, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Thursday. For the second of its three quarterly GDP reports, BEA put economic growth at 3.6 percent in the third quarter, well ahead of the 2.8 percent growth projected in the preliminary report released early November. According to BEA, the revision reflects an increase in private inventory investment, which was far greater than previously estimated.
Read More »Fed Reports Slowdown in Real Estate Amid Modest Economic Growth
Modest to moderate economic growth continues to be the theme at the Federal Reserve, which released on Wednesday its Beige Book tracking expansion across its 12 districts from October through mid-November. The Fed reported improvements in residential real estate activity in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and San Francisco, with slower single-family home sales softening real estate in most of the remaining districts.
Read More »Carrington Mortgage Services Names Tampa Branch Manager
Carrington Mortgage Services' lending division appointed Carl Grimes as branch manager of its office in Tampa, Florida.
Read More »October New Home Sales Speed to Fastest Pace in Six Months
Sales of new single-family homes were at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual pace of 354,000 in September, Census and HUD reported. In October, the sales pace picked up to an estimated 444,000, an increase of 25.4 percent month-over-month and 21.6 percent year-over-year. As of month's end, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale for 183,000, representing a 4.9 month supply at the current sales rate, the agencies reported.
Read More »ProLender Expands Integration with QuestSoft Compliance Platform
ProLender Solutions, Inc., a provider of paperless mortgage lending software, announced it has added flood, fraud, and Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) services to its existing interface with QuestSoft's Compliance EAGLE platform.
Read More »Independent Firms See Profits Plunge as Costs Soar
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released Wednesday its Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report, which measures stats at independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks. According to MBA's figures, average production volume per company was $391 million in Q3, down nearly $48 million from the prior quarter. By count, companies averaged 1,788 loans, down from 1,921 in Q2. In terms of profits, independent mortgage banks earned an estimated $743 on each loan originated in Q3, down from $1,528.
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