News

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Thursday it is extending the life of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Originally slated to expire at the end of this year, HARP will now expire December 31, 2015. The agency also announced it plans to launch a campaign in an attempt to reach more eligible borrowers for the program. While FHFA stated it can't provide "hard estimates" on the number of additional homeowners who are eligible, the hope is for a substantial number to be reached.

Churchill Mortgage, a Tennessee-based lender providing conventional and government-backed mortgages across 26 states, is expanding into Michigan with the opening of two branches.

David B. Lowman, a long-time senior leader in the mortgage finance industry, is joining Freddie Mac as EVP of the Single-Family Business effective May 20, the company announced.

Norcom Mortgage, headquartered in Avon, Connecticut, welcomed Lynn LaPierre on staff as a mortgage consultant. LaPierre brings more than 12 years of industry experience to Norcom. She joins the team from Village Mortgage, where she operated as a loan officer for the company's Collinsville branch.

While last year's mortgage market was largely dominated by refinance loans, a new report from MortgageMarvel.com says the stage is already set in some areas for purchase loans to take point.

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.