Origination

The financial costs of delaying or forgoing a home purchase in today’s unexpected market have become very high, according to the inaugural Opportunity Cost Report released by Realtor.com, a leading provider of online real estate services operated by News Corp subsidiary Move, Inc.

​Interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from March to April, according to several Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) indices of new mortgage contracts. The FHFA conducted a Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS) to find interest rate data, which provides monthly information on interest rates, loan terms, and house prices by property type, loan type, and by lender type, as well as information on 15-year and​​​ 30-year fixed-rate loans.

A federal judge has approved JPMorgan Chase's $500 million settlement with four pension funds over the sale of faulty mortgage-backed securities by Wall Street investment firm Bear Stearns before the financial crisis, according to media reports. JPMorgan Chase, the nation's largest bank, acquired Bear Stearns in March 2008 at a stock-only price of $236 million, or $2 per share. In their lawsuit, the pension funds accused Bear Stearns of selling $17.6 billion worth of toxic mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the crisis.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported in their Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) that, pending home sales increased in April for the fourth consecutive month and reached their highest peak in nine years. All four major regions saw growth in April, led by the Northeast and Midwest.

Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC has announced Ernie Martinez’s promotion to the position of Branch Manager for its El Paso, Texas location. Castle & Cooke Mortgage is an independent mortgage lender with over 250 employees and 35 locations across the United States.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported in a recent press release that commercial banks and saving institutions insured by the corporation aggregate net income was $39.8 billion for Q1 2015, a 6.9 percent or $2.6 billion increase from the previous year.

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, announced in a press release that it will make The Carrington Loan program available through its national wholesale lending division. This program was developed in order to support the company’s commitment to serve the “underserved” market and first-time homebuyers.

Ocwen Financial Corporation, a leading financial services holding company, recently announced that the company will close its residential servicing operations at its Houston facility.

In the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Eye on Housing blog, Robert Dietz, VP for tax and market analysis, found that the volume of residential AD&C loans outstanding expanded 4.8 percent during the first quarter of 2015. This will mark the 8th consecutive quarter of growth.

U.S. Real Estate Services (USRES), a nationwide appraisal management company (AMC) headquartered in Lake Forest, California, has announced that Citadel Servicing Corporation (CSC) is using its origination broker price opinion (BPO) services, according to an announcement from USRES.