Tag Archives: Processing

First Financial Network, an Oklahoma City-based loan sale advisor, recently announced the addition of a new SVP of business development. First Financial welcomes Tim Buss, an industry veteran who began his career in 1987.

National asking home prices have risen 7.0 percent year-over-year since bottoming out last February, Trulia revealed in its February Price Monitor Report. Seasonally adjusted, asking prices increased about 1.4 percent from January and 3.0 percent quarter-over-quarter, marking two post-recession highs. Nationally, inventory fell 23 percent year-over-year in February. Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist, explained that while falling inventory boosts prices, the relationship works both ways.

Vericrest Financial, Inc., announced it has completed onboarding two new portfolios of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs).

Two fellows at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) assert that the QM rule is "simply another and more direct way for the government to keep mortgage underwriting standards low."

Mortgage debt for U.S. households was roughly unchanged quarter-over-quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Household Debt and Credit report. Mortgage debt stood at $8.03 trillion in Q4, making up the largest component of household debt. At the same time, overall consumer debt increased by $31 billion to $11.34 trillion, a slight 0.3 percent increase from the third quarter. Despite the growth, the report noted consumer debt has still seen a significant decline after peaking at $12.68 trillion.

LendingQB, a California-based company specializing in loan origination technology solutions and services, announced the successful implementation of its Web-based, end-to-end mortgage lending platform for OGI Mortgage Bankers, a fast-growing lender based in Los Angeles.

GMH Mortgage Services LLC, a nationally recognized mortgage bankers headquartered in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, announced the hiring of Penny Smith as VP of processing. Smith has more than 25 years of experience in the mortgage industry. She most recently worked at New Penn Financial, where she managed an operations channel for the company.

Employment in the mortgage industry reached a post-crisis high in 2012, according to data from Mortgage Daily's Mortgage Employment Index. The index showed a gain of 2,571 jobs during last year's fourth quarter, making it the sixth straight quarter to post an increase. However, job growth wasn't as strong as the third quarter, which saw 2,926 mortgage jobs created. For the entire year, the mortgage industry gained 8,978 new jobs, more than twice what was gained in 2011 (4,320).

Construction spending came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $883.3 billion January, a 2.1 percent monthly drop, the Census Bureau reported Friday. January's figure sits 7.1 percent above January 2012's spending estimate of $824.7 billion. December's estimate was revised upward to $902.6 billion from an originally reported $885.0 billion. Residential construction spending in the private sector was an estimated $304.6 billion, essentially flat month-over-month and up 22.0 percent year-over-year.

Caliber Funding LLC, a leading national residential mortgage lender headquartered in Dallas, Texas, announced the appointment of Tammy Richards as its SVP of operations. Richards has more than three decades of leadership experience in mortgage banking and extensive expertise in process improvement, quality management, technology, and leadership development.