News

Adverse selection is leading to rating downgrades for one of the strongest U.S. residential mortgage vintages, the pre-2005 vintage, according to Fitch Ratings. Residential mortgage-backed securities formed before 2005 have historically performed well, according to Fitch. While this may be true, Grant Bailey, managing director at Fitch, explained, ""Many high-quality mortgage borrowers are refinancing to take advantage of record-low interest rates, leaving the remaining mortgage pools increasingly concentrated with borrowers unable to refinance.""

SunTrust is taking steps to improve its position in the market. The bank has continued to grow its mortgage banking division, which earned $258 million last quarter, according to FBR Capital Markets.

HUD announced Friday that a $20,000 settlement has been reached with Land Home Financial Services (LHFS) to resolve allegations of discriminatory practices based on maternity status.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August - the lowest level since April but the economy added just 96,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. According to BLS, 581,000 people left the labor force in August leading to the drop in the unemployment rate which nonetheless remained above the election-critical 8.0 percent. At the same time, July's job gains - originally reported at 163,000 - were reduced to 141,000 while June's job numbers dropped to 45,000 from 87,000.

After some community banks expressed concerns that FDIC examinations were being conducted without clear standards or consistent application of agency policies and procedures, which could discourage business growth and responsible lending, the FDIC conducted a report to review its examination process.

To repair, or not to repair. That was the question posed to a number of panelists Thursday morning at the Five Star Conference and Expo. The panel featured a discussion between GSE and field asset representatives as they tried to help brokers and servicers tackle a common issue: Whether or not it's worth the investment to repair a home not in showcase condition.

The CMBS delinquency rate made a steep drop in August, marking the first fall since February 2012, according to Trepp. After five months of increases, the CMBS delinquency rate fell 21 basis points to 10.13 percent in August from 10.34 in July. The plunge in August is the largest since November 2011.

Amid uncertainty regarding another stimulus from the Fed, mortgage rates generally declined over the week last week. In his recent speech, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door wide open for further stimulus, according to Bankrate.com. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft reports mortgage rates ""were little changed"" overall last week. According to the GSE, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.55 percent (0.7 point), demonstrating a decline from both the previous week and last year. The rate the GSE reported the previous week was 3.59 percent.

IndiSoft announced Wednesday that HomeFree-USA has selected the company's RxOffice Premium Counselor Edition as the case management system for HomeFree's counselors.

Despite recent gains, homeowners still feel antsy about the housing market, with 4 out of 5 home-owning Americans unlikely to buy or refinance their homes, according to a recent poll. Union Plus, an arm of the AFL-CIO, conducted the survey with Harris Interactive. The findings? Only employees between ages 18 and 34 felt interested in making a housing investment over the next 12 months.