Daily Dose

Though they’re on the fence about the benefits for themselves, most lenders surveyed agreed that both changes would be advantageous to consumers. In fact, 76 percent believe that expanding 97-percent LTV loan products will be good for homebuyers, and another 81 percent believe the MIP reduction will be beneficial, too.

April's target annual sales rate for existing homes of 5.31 million is an increase of 2.3 percent from March and 11.8 percent from April 2014, according to Auction.com. "Among the factors contributing to the jump in March's existing home sales, pent-up demand from weak sales in January and February probably played a significant role," Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga said.

In the response letter, dated April 21, 2015, Treasury's Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Randall DeValk said that wanted to "clarify some misunderstandings" from some press reports regarding the agreement, and said that the government's $187.5 billion bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with taxpayer funds in 2008 was not an "ordinary" loan.

U.S. house prices overall rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February, according to the agency’s monthly House Price Index report. Prices were up 5.4 percent nationwide compared to this time last year. The HPI is calculated by using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The three fastest-growing areas of the country were largely immune from the effects of the housing crisis, leading Massachusetts-based Pro Teck Valuation Services to conclude that population growth is a strong indicator of home values, according to a report the company released Wednesday.

Now in its seventh year, the Servicer Summit is a biannual gathering of leaders from both the mortgage servicing and legal communities focused on spurring shared educational opportunities and honest conversation. The novel format encourages all attendees to contribute. Leaders of roundtables serve merely as conversation starters and travel the room with a microphone so that any attendee may respond to a prompt or ask a question.

Approximately 350,000 borrowers eligible for re-purchase are currently unable to do so due to tight financial markets, and as many as 260,000 borrowers may never return to homeownership at all, the report says, because their former loans were backed by loose lenders.

The firm also repurchased approximately 7 million shares‒‒worth about $250 million‒‒of its common stock in the quarter. According to the statement, Morgan Stanley stock leapt from 74 cents per share to $1.18 between the first quarters of 2014 and 2015. The firm plans to repurchase as much as $3.1 billion of common stock through the end of Q2 2016.

Fannie Mae’s software upgrade is part of an effort it’s been rolling out since the beginning of the year. The GSE introduced Collateral Underwriter to the market in January and has nearly 800 lenders registered as users already, according to the Monday announcement. For some, the new system makes immediate and obvious sense.

Adapting automation technology on a timely basis to help lenders weather increasing regulatory demands, meet mandates and stay ahead of the competition relies on a solid workflow management foundation.