Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

Norcom Mortgage and Insurance has announced a new team member, recently hiring a new private mortgage banker and licensed insurance agent for the company.

Existing-home sales rose to 4.62 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in April from a downwardly revised March rate of 4.47 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Economists had forecast the April sales pace would be 4.66 million. The median price of an existing home climbed 10 percent to $177,400 in April 2011, the strongest year-to-year gain since January 2006. The median price in April reached its highest level since July 2010 when it was $182,100. For-sale homes rose to 2.54 million in April.

First-lien home loans helped move credit unions to set new records with loan originations over the first quarter. Callahan & Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, said Monday that first mortgage originations reached $26 billion by the end of the quarter, accounting for 36 percent of originations. Credit unions reportedly originated 160,746 first-lien loans, with mortgages averaging $161,549. Consumer loan originations ticked up 16.6 percent to reach $39 billion quarter-over-quarter but fell year-over-year.

Loan origination software provider Mortgage Builder announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire GCC Servicing Systems, a leading loan servicing software provider. GCC is the creator a G/Serv, a mortgage servicing software that automates servicing administration function and is commonly used among mid-tier lenders and mortgage companies, a market sector it shares with Mortgage Builder. The acquisition of GCC will allow Mortgage Builder to offer a new platform for lenders.

Lawmakers came together with officers of Nationwide Title Clearing to discuss multiple issues in today's residential mortgage industry. In a company statement, NTC said that it hoped to offer the company's support as a resource as members of Congress strive to create industry-wide best practices.

HARP 2.0 is stimulating an uptick in mortgage applications for Bank of the West. The financial institution recently reported notable increases in loan applications during April as homeowners move to capitalize on the government's enhancements to the refinancing initiative. he California-based bank is currently predicting that roughly 20 percent of its loan volume for 2012 will come from refinancing borrowers taking advantage of HARP 2.0. Bank of the West has been savvy in its pursuit of homeowners interested in refinancing.

In Wisconsin, LoanSifter has reason to celebrate, following the company's announcement that its revenues have grown during 22 consecutive quarters. Statistics from LoanSifter, a provider of product eligibility and pricing software solutions for the mortgage banking industry, indicate an 11.6 percent increase in revenue between the final quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of the current year.

Interest rates for mortgage loans saw new, all-time lows this week as investors fled debt crises in Europe. Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sliding to 3.79 percent, down from 3.83 percent last week and a far cry from 4.61 percent last year. The 15-year loan fell from 3.05 percent to 3.04 percent. Adjustable-rate mortgages went up. The finance Web site Bankrate.com likewise saw new record lows for mortgage rates, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropping below 4 percent for the first time by arriving at 3.97 percent.

First time claims were unchanged at 370,000 for the week ended May 12 after the number of initial claims filed for the previous week was revised upward, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected initial claims would decrease to 365,000. The Labor Department had initially reported 367,000 claims filed for the week ended May 5. The revision turned that report to an increase of 2,000 from a previously reported decline of 1,000. Continuing claims ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô reported on a one week lag ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô increased 18,000 to 3,265,000.

The Real Estate Roundtable's new quarterly survey demonstrated a lack of confidence in the outlook for 2012 among commercial real estate executives. According to data from the group's Sentiment Survey, the market improvements seen on a year-over-year basis aren't mitigating concerns surrounding global economic risks and tax issues in the commercial sector.