Jumbo mortgage volume is very dependent on location. So what are borrowers in high cost areas thinking when it comes to obtaining a jumbo loan? Linda Stern of Reuters reminds us that conforming loan limit caps for high cost areas will be reduced from $729,750 to $625,500 effective October 1, and says that some borrowers [...]

Today links include more consumer-focused interpretations of the Fed’s new risk retention rules for mortgage securitization. If you only read one link today, read Kid Dynamite on the topic.

Lee Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp., was found guilty on all 14 charges stemming from a seven-year, multibillion-dollar fraud scheme that led to the collapse of his firm and Colonial Bank. Even the photo can make you cringe.

Regarding the government shutdown, Caroline Baum wrote this on Bloomberg:

Here are a couple Monday morning questions: Is the rise of non-bank lending a good thing? Does the GOP’s rush to dismantle Fannie & Freddie threaten a fragile housing market?

Last Thursday, while on a tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, my son and I met and chatted with CNBC futures reporter Rick Santelli. I told him that I was there to speak at a Fannie Mae regional meeting, he launched into a dissertation about how better off the mortgage industry would be if the [...]

A survey of more than 100 lenders by Freddie Mac showed that adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are attracting applicants again, and that their market share may go from 3% in 2009 to almost 10% in 2011. Gone, for the most part, are two-year adjustables, option ARM’s, “pick-a-pay” ARMs, etc., and they’ve been replaced with the [...]

Future of Fannie & Freddie January is scheduled to be a big month for Freddie and Fannie, in that the Treasury is expected to release plans for their future. Merrill Lynch released some conjecture about upcoming news, which will probably come out after the State of the Union address on 1/25. Merrill reminds us that [...]

Rates are generally even on today’s market news which includes bank earnings and some housing data, as follows: Wells Fargo’s earnings came out as expected at $3.2 billion (61 cents per share). Initial reads show that Wells’ loan growth was better than expected. Credit quality improved dramatically, allowing Wells to release some $850 million in [...]

Regulators are eyeing mortgage amounts that are 70% or less than the value of a home as “safe” following a proposal from Wells Fargo. This is an important threshold because it could be the break point for a new rule that’s yet to be implemented. The rule, part of the Dodd Frank bill, says that [...]