Top Mortgage Servicers See Little Growth in Early 2008

The country’s largest mortgage servicers, who are struggling with reduced originations and rising defaults, saw very little growth in their servicing volume in early 2008.

According to new numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the top 25 servicers as a group posted only a 0.8 percent increase in their total servicing in the first quarter of the year. But on a year-over-year basis, the top servicers saw a healthy 10 percent rise in their servicing volume – thanks in part to ongoing consolidation and the demise of a number of smaller servicers.

As of March 30, Countrywide just barely edged out Wells Fargo for the top mortgage servicer title. Countrywide held $1.484 trillion in servicing compared to Wells Fargo’s $1.483 trillion in volume.

FDIC Prepares Own Version of Mortgage Relief Plan

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is expected to unveil today a major new mortgage relief plan that it says can avoid unnecessary foreclosures and help stabilize mortgage and housing prices.

Under the initiative, which would require legislation, the Treasury Department would make Home Ownership Protection loans to borrowers with “unaffordable mortgages” to pay down up to 20 percent of their principal outstanding and provide them with a restructured fixed-rate mortgage for the balance. Borrowers would have to repay both the restructured mortgage and the HOP loan. To use the program, mortgage investors would have to pay Treasury’s financing costs and agree to concessions on the underlying mortgages to achieve an affordable payment.

Audio Conference to Examine 2008 Foreclosure Environment

A detailed look at this year’s challenging foreclosure climate and what strategies major mortgage market players are using to cope with it is the subject of an important new audio conference being offered by Inside Mortgage Finance. on May 20. Featured speakers from PMI, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo are headlining the program. Additionally, results from a major new study of mortgage lender foreclosure practices will be released at this must-attend event. Click here for more info.

Mortgage Originations Down 29% in 1Q08

New mortgage originations, hammered by an ongoing credit crunch that has all but wiped out the non-conforming sector, tumbled 29% in the first three months of 2008 compared to the same period a year ago, according to new numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.

The new analysis reveals that mortgage production totaled $480 billion in 1Q08 compared to $680 billion in 1Q07. Despite the dramatic decline on a year-over-year basis, mortgage activity in the first quarter was actually up – by 7% – from the fourth quarter of 2007. This was largely attributable to a first quarter surge in FHA, VA and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac business.

Private Mortgage Conduit Market Dries Up in 2008

A paltry $7.7 billion in mortgages were securitized by private conduits in the first quarter of 2008, according to new numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. And just eight firms were active in the private mortgage conduit market in the first three months of the year. This compares with 40 firms that produced more than $242 billion in private conduit mortgage activity a year earlier.

The private conduit market – firms that buy/originate and securitize non-conforming mortgages – has effectively vanished in the current credit-starved economic environment. What little activity there has been in the private mortgage conduit market has mostly involved jumbo loans. The purchase and securitization of subprime and Alt A mortgages has dried up almost completely.

HUD to Explain RESPA Plans at Upcoming Audio Conference

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s plans to overhaul its RESPA regulations is the focus of a major audio conference to be held by Inside Mortgage Finance next Wednesday, April 23, at 3 pm EDT.

HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs Gary M. Cunningham will review and explain the agency’s strategy for revamping the Good Faith Estimate and the HUD-1 Settlement Statement, as well as proposing a new closing script. RESPA legal experts Jay Varon from Foley & Lardner LLP and Phil Schulman from K&L Gates LLP will discuss the real estate and mortgage industry’s concerns with the proposed RESPA changes.

Click here for more info.