Facing The Anomalies In State Regulations
While a great deal of attention has been given to the flurry of regulatory activity at the federal level, it is important to...
The Sweet REIT Life
This is a good time to be a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT). Returns are positive, as are dividends, and industry experts...
How Will Basel III Impact Community Banks?
In January, when the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision approved a final rule regarding Basel III regulations, U.S. small banks were mostly unimpressed....
Who Will Succeed Ben Bernanke?
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to leave office in January 2014. For some industry experts, it's not too early to predict...
The Mystery Of The Energy-Efficient Mortgages
Energy-efficient mortgages (EEMs) seem like a great idea, but they have taken a very long time to catch on with lenders and consumers....
Who’s Getting Hired In Mortgage Banking?
For all the change that has occurred in the mortgage industry over the past several years and will, most assuredly, continue into 2013,...
The 2013 Mortgage Industry Forecast
The reinvention of the mortgage industry continues in 2013. The New Year brings with it even more uncertainty than in past years. What...
How Would A Recession Impact Housing?
As 2012 draws to a close, the threat of the federal government going over the so-called 'fiscal cliff' has raised the specter of...
How Would A Recession Impact Commercial Real Estate?
Throughout the prolonged drama surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff negotiations, there has been a fear that a failure to resolve this crisis by...
Riders On The Storm
The devastation Hurricane Sandy caused on the East Coast in late October will have a major impact on the mortgage servicing industry. Among...
Do We Still Need The GSEs? – Part II
Housing starts are an important element of residential investment, an important component of total economic output. Of course, the supply side of the...
Do We Still Need The GSEs? – Part I
Between 1996 and 2006, the Federal Reserve's housing price index rose by 90% based on quarterly data, but then it fell by 12%...
The Coming Crash In Mortgage Originations
We are finally heading toward the end of the Great Credit Crisis that began in 2007 as mortgage delinquency and default rates continue...
Is Your Service Provider Up To Snuff?
The mortgage banking industry has only scratched the surface of potential consequences of Bulletin 2012-03, issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)...
Dealing With Declining REO Volume
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently reported that September marked the seventh consecutive month of inventory decline for real estate owned (REO)...
Riding The New M&A Wave
Just as the housing markets are starting to show some renewed life after several years in the doldrums, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity...
In Search Of Non-Agency RMBS
In many ways, trying to locate signs of activity in the market for non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) is similar to locating evidence...
Going Forward With Reverse Mortgages
Recent reports on the growing mortgage debt loads of U.S. seniors paint a pretty bleak picture, which should be of concern to reverse...
Searching For Truth In Appraisals
When investigating a major crime, law enforcement officials rely on as much information as they can get. Lately, we're seeing a similar preoccupation...
Who’s Getting Hired In Mortgage Banking?
Recent economic statistics suggest the housing market may finally be on an upswing after nearly five years of depression. That improvement is now...