Tag Archives: Mortgage Applications

On Wednesday the Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly survey, showing jumps in mortgage applications by 15.5 percent and by 23.1 percent in refinances, respectively, from the previous week. According to the survey, mortgage loan application volume went up over 15 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, with a steady increase by 43 percent. According to the survey, mortgage loan application volume went up over 15 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, with a steady increase by 43.9 percent on an unadjusted basis from the week earlier.

Texas company Guardian Mortgage Lenders has been honored in its home state for the second consecutive year. Four of Guardian├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós originators were recently named among top mortgage professionals in D Magazine├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós annual list. Loan officers Lynn Hood, Rick Hodges, Marcus McCue, and David Stout ranked in the publication├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós standings, which are nominated and judged by a panel comprised of D Magazine Top DFW Realtors and other residential real estate professionals in the region.

ProTeck Valuation Services and American Mortgage Consultants are teaming up to deliver advanced real estate tools, and ProTeck will now provide real estate valuation and reconciliation via AMC.

The numbers are in, and New York tops the list of states boasting the highest mortgage closing costs nationwide. The results of the Bankrate, Inc. survey demonstrate New York├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós dubious dominance in closing fees for the second straight year. Other high-cost areas rounding out the top five? Texas, Utah, San Francisco, and Idaho. Nationally, the total cost of origination and title fees has risen since last year by 8.8 percent, to an average cost of $4,070 on a $200,000 mortgage.

A monthly update from Capital Economics holds that small upticks in home prices and sales reflect anomalous behavior in the market, thanks in part to a generous seasonal uplift. The report predicts continued falls in home sales.

In a statement, TD Bank announced the creation of a step-by-step kit that it dubs the First Time Homebuyer Kit, a program that will guide first-time homebuyers through the homeownership process.

Wary of an uncertain economic climate, new regulatory legislation, and the potential for burdensome capital restrictions, the nation's top lenders financed fewer mortgage loans in 2010 than in 2009 to keep their ledgers in the black a cumulative pattern that analysts and news reports say hampers housing and, potentially, recovery in the broader economy. According to analysis conducted by The Wall Street Journal, the 10 largest mortgage lenders in the country denied 26.8 percent of loan applications last year, up from 23.5 percent in 2009.

With total U.S. debt soaring past $14 billion in May and negotiations over a controversial ceiling raise splintering at the highest levels, analysts worry that the Federal Housing Administration may shut down if the federal government defaults on August 2 -- a crisis scenario that would wreak havoc in housing markets, tightening the credit supply and spoiling a recovery. Analysts suggest that a default by the government would unfairly and adversely impact minority homeowners.

Representing a nudge in the right direction for the origination market, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 13 percent swell in home loan applications submitted last week, up from the record low reported just one week earlier. It was the biggest gain recorded in three months. Michael Fratantoni, MBA's VP of research and economics, says low rates are driving consumers back to loans. Rates have dropped over eight of the last nine weeks - a primary driver for homeowners looking to refinance. MBA's Refinance Index jumped 16.5 percent.

Mortgage lenders across the country have reported layoffs and substantial downsizing, a consequence of heightened regulatory scrutiny, weak job growth, and brittle markets slumbering in the wake of diminishing consumer confidence. Despite a small spurt in refinancing measures and a drop in lending rates to their lowest ebb since the turn of the century, origination loan volume remains low, and lenders are coming to terms with the fact that they will be financing fewer mortgages over a longer-than-expected period.