Mon, Apr 22 2013, 9:39 AM
Wells Fargo has decided that it time to embark on a $100 million expansion in Iowa : This is in spite of the industry concerned about less volume an...
Fri, Apr 19 2013, 1:08 PM
Like it or not, a lot of those people buying homes use a government-related housing program. FHA & VA lenders know that biz is good. Ginnie Mae has ...
Thu, Apr 18 2013, 10:32 AM
Earlier this week I received a note from the owner of a mortgage bank in Pennsylvania. "Rob, with all this 3% cap talk going on [editor's note: it i...
Wed, Apr 17 2013, 12:42 PM
"Does the price of gold impact mortgage rates ?" No, not really, but both move based on supply and demand, political uncertainty, current events, an...
Tue, Apr 16 2013, 11:25 AM
Given current rates , and thus the rates at which millions of people are refinancing, the home lending industry has become keenly interested in wh...
Mon, Apr 15 2013, 4:59 PM
Senior management at lenders everywhere were keenly interested in the results from Wells Fargo and Chase for the 1 st quarter, given that they are ...
Fri, Apr 12 2013, 9:44 AM
Well, the rate lock renegotiation discussion continues, and here is one angle that I hadn't seen raised. "Lately we have been working/wrestling with...
Thu, Apr 11 2013, 10:01 AM
Not to be outdone, the CFPB published its " Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule. " "Our
goal with thi...
Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:44 PM
I received several notes on the practicality of the renegotiation of locks . "One Capital Markets person noted, "LOs seem to forget that it is a real...
Tue, Apr 9 2013, 10:13 AM
The plot thickens in the Access National branch closure story . Prior to the weekend Virginia-based Access National announced that it is closing its 3...
Mon, Apr 8 2013, 12:32 PM
According to the U.S. Census Bureau fewer domestic households have debt, but those who do, have more of it. It's research team writes, "The percentage...
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 9:55 AM
Yesterday I was in Denver, speaking at the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association, and, besides the increasing need for capital among lenders, the rumo...
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 12:14 PM
Here is what the public sees: a story from Bloomberg noting, "More American homeowners will be able to use their properties as cash machines again a...
Wed, Apr 3 2013, 8:31 AM
I am continuing to hear that a) pipelines and fundings are ahead of where they were in 2012 in early April, but that pipelines and fundings are down...
Tue, Apr 2 2013, 5:04 PM
In 1981 Jimmy Carter handed the reins to Ronald Reagan. The prime rate hit 20.5% , and yes, people still bought houses. (It has been at 3.25% for the...
Mon, Apr 1 2013, 11:43 AM
There continues to be a debate about whether or not 30-yr mortgages/liens are a good idea or not .
The MBA's president - Dave Stevens - weighed in ...
Tue, Mar 26 2013, 11:08 AM
Remember in the "old days" when we didn't have government-sponsored refi programs like HARP? I seem to remember the rule of thumb being, "If you could...
Mon, Mar 25 2013, 11:02 AM
I am visiting Pennsylvania this week, from where I coincidentally received this note from a Realtor: "Rob, what's the scoop on Blackstone ?" I think ...
Fri, Mar 22 2013, 1:25 PM
David Stevens, the president of the MBA, is on TV today talking about the undeniable housing recovery. But a lot of that is all-cash transactions. M...
Thu, Mar 21 2013, 3:52 PM
I have a lot of pretty interesting Freddie & Fannie news below , but let's start with this note. "Rob, my ops folks complain about the oddest things....
Wed, Mar 20 2013, 2:11 PM
I've been visiting Colorado this week, where some of the conversation involves yesterday's sentencing of two individuals for fraud. "The elaborate sch...
Tue, Mar 19 2013, 12:21 PM
With all the potential change going on with Freddie & Fannie, some states may be taking things into their own hands - or trying to. For example, in Te...
Fri, Mar 15 2013, 10:37 AM
What is " Jumpstart GSE Reform "? It is a new bill that requires the government to keep its mitts off of gfees. Odds of passage are unknown.
Here's...
Thu, Mar 14 2013, 5:23 PM
Turning to the production side of the equation, don't shoot the messenger - you can write to the authors of this comprehensive study that shows, ".....
Tue, Mar 12 2013, 11:30 AM
I am not an expert on appraisal requirements, but occasionally I am asked whether or not a refinance requires an appraisal. To the best of my know...
Mon, Mar 11 2013, 12:29 PM
When they asked Michelangelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said, "It is easy. You just chip away the stone that doesn't look ...
Fri, Mar 8 2013, 10:44 AM
Andrew Jackson's portrait is on the $20 bill of the United States - we know that. But what many people don't know is that for years, and perhaps to th...
Wed, Mar 6 2013, 4:35 PM
Liquidity is a very important issue, and in fact some say liquidity is more important than credit for the lending industry . When the liquidity crisi...
Tue, Mar 5 2013, 3:34 PM
Yes, the government controls both the supply and demand of agency MBS , but on the demand side we are watching the re-emergence of REITs. Last week w...
Mon, Mar 4 2013, 10:40 AM
With the change of clocks ahead of us this weekend, let's ease into the work week and put this Girl Scout cookie issue to rest once and for all. Bes...
Thu, Feb 28 2013, 3:45 PM
I continue to see concerns in the market about the fate of "affiliate relationships" in a QM world, especially in regard to builder/lenders. (Remem...
Wed, Feb 27 2013, 11:50 AM
I have published this before, and am often asked for the site again. It is a mesmerizing chart of current wind conditions in the United States .
...
Tue, Feb 26 2013, 10:52 AM
"Rob, last week you mentioned a site for doing bank research . Your readers may want to know that many paid sites obtain their information from the ...
Mon, Feb 25 2013, 9:34 AM
A study by the Brookings Institution of the largest 100 metropolitan areas quantifies what Realtors have intuitively known forever: housing costs an ...
Fri, Feb 22 2013, 11:06 AM
Do you know what it costs your company to produce a loan? I hope so, because if the president of a lender wants to do more business in 2013 , or mere...
Thu, Feb 21 2013, 8:45 AM
Hey, the next time you are dreading the job of giving that quarterly review to that obstinate employee, think about this task. Companies are looking ...
Wed, Feb 20 2013, 11:31 AM
I am in Kansas today. Before the congratulatory e-mails flood in, I mention this because I flew here. (In an airplane.) Per our very own Transportatio...
Tue, Feb 19 2013, 10:37 AM
Yesterday the commentary had some statistics on Florida lagging in price appreciation, which many attribute to the " judicial versus non-judicial " fo...
Fri, Feb 15 2013, 10:43 AM
I receive a lot of questions , some very specific and others very broad reaching. These two have implications that our industry should think about:
...
Thu, Feb 14 2013, 11:40 AM
While I sit here kicking myself for not owning the stock in catsup maker Heinz (up 20% this morning because of being purchased by Berkshire Hathaway),...
Wed, Feb 13 2013, 11:22 AM
The talk in the halls here in Houston at the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association secondary conference is about a) diminishing margins for 2013, and b...
Tue, Feb 12 2013, 6:25 AM
"Rob, where's a good place to learn about the new FHA MIP structure, and the possible implication for Ginnie securities?" Good question, especially si...
Fri, Feb 8 2013, 1:32 PM
"Rob, what's going to happen to all those agency MBS owned by the Fed? If rates start to go up, and their prices drop, what will that do to the Fed's ...
Thu, Feb 7 2013, 12:44 PM
Today we have Part 2 of statistics and facts related to Black (African American) History Month. Just as I do for many other significant groups here in...
Wed, Feb 6 2013, 5:19 PM
And the discussion of mortgage lender versus Realtor political participation continues . Julie P. writes, "Rob, I'd love to encourage all of my fello...
Tue, Feb 5 2013, 10:22 AM
Here in Las Vegas there is a concrete convention taking place. A trained economist could do a tremendous amount of analysis, chart reading, capital al...
Mon, Feb 4 2013, 11:43 AM
If anyone asks you, "Whatever happened to that 'Shadow Inventory' we were all concerned about?" you can respond that part of it is being soaked up b...
Fri, Feb 1 2013, 10:21 AM
The free markets are a wonderful thing. Where else could we find a banana slicer ? Page down a couple times for the comments - just as good as any co...
Thu, Jan 31 2013, 3:32 PM
Detroit...near bankruptcy ? But many areas are doing well. As housing in established urban neighborhoods becomes ever rarer and more expensive, buyer...
Wed, Jan 30 2013, 10:28 AM
Super Bowl XLVII, between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, will be played Feb. 3 at the Superdome, which will be the 10th time the Su...
