Tag Archives: Service Providers

Mortgage refinance applications went into free-fall last week as interest rates came back up, according to data in the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The survey's Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume, dropped 13.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending September 6. The Refinance Index fell 20 percent week-over-week, bringing it to its lowest level since June 2009.

LendingTree released on Tuesday the top 10 customer-rated lenders in its network, revealing California-based HomePlus Mortgage as the No. 1 lender for the second quarter. The top 10 list was created based on a weighted average of review rating and volume of customer reviews. Following HomePlus on the list were Pacific Beneficial Mortgage Company; Affinity Mortgage, LLC; Mortgage Loans for Texas; and Americash in the top five. The company's network includes more than 250 lenders.

The number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity fell more than five percentage points throughout the year's second quarter, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. According to the company's analysis, approximately 2.5 million residential properties returned to a state of positive equity last quarter, bringing the total number to 41.5 million. Meanwhile, 7.1 million homes--or 14.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage--were still in negative equity.

loanDepot.com, LLC and imortgage.com, Inc., have entered into a definitive agreement to combine, creating the nation's third-largest private, independent retail mortgage lender.

James B. Lockhart III, vice chairman of WL Ross & Co. and former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, addressed a packed house at the inaugural Investment Symposium at the 10th Annual Five Star Conference and Expo. Lockhart's speech wound through many of today's biggest topics, including the current movement to dissolve the GSEs. He also praised Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke's leadership during the crisis, saying Bernanke's efforts to move the economy have been largely successful.

Having been approved in August, Norcom Mortgage's Fairfield, Connecticut, branch is open for business, the company announced. The Fairfield branch will take direction from Manny Gomes, a resident of the area since graduating from Southern Connecticut State University in 2006.

While FBR Capital Markets says its predictions for origination volume are still "attainable," the company admits its estimates "depend on a stable rate environment or a more robust level of economic activity."

Market indicators continue to point to an imminent slowdown in home price gains--further allaying fears of another housing bubble in the making, Capital Economic says.

In Florida, ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc., announced the appointment of Carolyn Downey as a new independent member of the company's board of directors.

The National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index reached its highest level on record in September with a little more than 80 percent of markets qualifying as improving. Of the 291 markets that made it onto the latest Improving Markets Index, 242 were repeats from the previous month, and 49 were new to the list. However, the association noted that September's result was largely due to a change to the way Freddie Mac measures home prices.