News

After releasing a mortgage origination forecast of $349 billion for the third quarter earlier this week, FBR Capital Markets revised its estimate to between $400 billion and $420 billion for the quarter Wednesday. FBR anticipates a rise in refinances under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) as small specialty servicing shops are "still playing catch-up" from the recent boom. Meanwhile, larger players are relinquishing some of their market share, according to analysts at the investment bank.

Clayton Holdings LLC, a provider of loan due diligence, surveillance, and consulting services for the mortgage industry, announced that it has expanded its securitization group in preparation for the private market's return.

Demonstrating the extent to which eligibility has opened up in the last year, a new survey from loanDepot.com shows more than half of homeowners who recently refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) had been turned down for the program previously. Reforms announced in December 2011 removed many restrictions from the program, granting access to previously ineligible homeowners. The expanded "HARP 2.0" removed the ceiling on eligible loan-to-value ratios--welcome news for the most severely underwater borrowers.

Atlanta-based Equifax announced the launch of a new tool designed to enhance underwriting and help lenders make predictive decisions based on consumer behavior.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Wednesday an increase in mortgage application volume to start October. According to data in MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, loan application volume increased 1.3 percent (seasonally adjusted) for the week ending October 4. After tumbling for most of the summer, MBA's Refinance Index increased 3 percent week-over-week, rising to its highest level in almost two months. The Purchase Index fell, meanwhile, dipping 1 percent.

Founded by what used to be the IT staff at National Default Exchange (NDeX), assured360 fully owns and operates two geographically diverse Tier 3 data centers: one in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and the other in Carrollton, Texas.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has taken the next step toward building a new common securitization platform for the GSEs with the filing of a certificate to establish a joint venture.

A new index from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American suggests that about one in seven housing markets have returned to or surpassed their pre-recessionary levels of activity. According to the association, the index registered a score of 0.85 nationwide, indicating that the national housing market is running at 85 percent of normal activity. Of the nearly 350 metro markets examined, 52 have reported levels of activity at least equal to those before the recession hit.

In an effort to keep the mortgage market running as smoothly as possible, Freddie Mac issued Monday temporary guidance for lenders to continue approving loans for eligible borrowers during the federal shutdown. Dave Lowman, EVP of single-family business at the GSE, said the bulletin is intended to give lenders the certainty to continue approving and delivering new mortgages that meet Freddie Mac guidelines to eligible borrowers, such as federal employees and contractors, during the temporary shutdown.

Velocify, a provider of cloud-based intelligent sales automation software, announced it will be hosting a unique online Mortgage Sales Summit to educate industry professionals on sales strategies and tools to take advantage of the ongoing shift in loan demand.