First American Client Relations Industry View: July 2005 Archives

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July 29, 2005

Rates Continue to Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.73% to 5.77% over the seven-day period ended July 28, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate increased from 5.32% to 5.34%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages rose from 5.26% to 5.27%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 4.42% to 4.46%. (The last time the one-year ARM rate was higher was the week ended July 19, 2002, when it averaged 4.50%, according to Freddie Mac.) Fees and points averaged 0.5 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.6 of a point for ARMs. "Although inching upwards, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate for the month of July was lower than the annual averages since our survey began in 1971," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "And the most recent figures for housing sales are reflective of these low interest rates in the mortgage industry." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.08% and 5.49%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.17%, Freddie Mac said.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)

Senate Panel OKs GSE Reform

The Senate Banking Committee has approved a GSE regulatory reform bill by an 11-9 party-line vote that would direct a new regulator to reduce the size of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolios. The combined portfolios currently contain $1.5 trillion in mortgage assets. Democrats argued that the bill would require the two government-sponsored enterprises to reduce their mortgage holdings by $600 billion to $760 billion, which they said would impair the GSEs' ability to support the housing market. Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., stressed that he believes the new GSE regulator needs "clear direction" to reduce the portfolios in order to refocus the GSEs on their housing mission and decrease the potential for systemic risk. Despite the divide, Democrats and Republicans said they still hope a consensus can be reached. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., declared that everyone wants a GSE bill and said work should continue in order to resolve the differences. "We are close to finding common ground here," said Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)

First American and Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership

First American Residential Group, Inc., a member of The First American Corporation family of companies, today announced a strategic partnership with Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies to deliver an industry-leading, integrated real estate transaction management solution for their joint customers. Through the integration of First American's transaction management platform and Lone Wolf's broker accounting and administrative system, customers will now have the ability to seamlessly transfer transaction data electronically from First American's Transaction Manager into the Lone Wolf Realty Management System.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2005

First American Upgrades Default Technologies

First American Default Technologies has launched an updated version of its VendorScapeCMS default management technology. Version 3.0 of the case management software includes an enhanced screen layout that allows users to access more data at one time, a redesigned navigation system that helps users locate relevant data faster, and more work queues to locate and address the most urgent tasks, the company said. The original version of VendorScapeCMS was launched in 2003. First American Default Technologies, Anaheim, Calif., is a unit of the First American Corporation.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

The First American Corporation Reports Record Results for the Second Quarter 2005

The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF), the nation's largest data provider, today announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2005. Details can be found here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)

Stewart Reports Earnings for Second Quarter

Stewart Information Services Corporation today reported results for the quarter ended June 30, 2005. Revenues for the three-month period ended June 30, 2005 were $651 million, the highest in the company's history, and an increase of 15 percent over the $565 million reported in the same period last year. Net earnings were $37.2 million, or $2.04 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2005, versus net earnings of $30.0 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2004.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

Milestone of One Million Online Files Is Imminent for Stewart's SureClose® Online Transaction Management System

The "Road to a Million" closing files for the SureClose online transaction management system is about to reach its destination, announced Stewart Realty Solutions.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)

LandAmerica Announces Second Quarter Results

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., a leading provider of real estate transaction services, today reported operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2005.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:16 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces Formation of Board of Directors for Fidelity National Title Group, Inc.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF - News), a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, today announced that it has formed a Board of Directors for Fidelity National Title Group ("FNT") that will be effective upon the distribution of the stock of FNT.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2005 EPS of $1.07

Fidelity National Financial, Inc., a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, today reported operating results for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2005.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.25

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF - News), a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend in the amount of $0.25 per share. The dividend will be payable September 22, 2005 to stockholders of record as of September 8, 2005.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity Information Services and ComplianceEase Form Strategic Partnership

Empower, part of the Fidelity Information Services division of Fidelity National Financial and a leading provider of software solutions to the lending community, and ComplianceEase®, a division of LogicEase Solutions Inc., a premier provider of regulatory compliance and risk management solutions to the financial services industry, announce a strategic partnership that integrates ComplianceEase's automated compliance solution into the Fidelity Empower mortgage origination system.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity Information Services Launches Corebank J2EE in the Global Marketplace

Fidelity National Financial, Inc., a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, and its Fidelity Information Services (Fidelity) division today announced the global availability of the world's first platform independent core banking solution adapted to the Java2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) architecture and programming model. With this addition to its suite of retail banking products, Fidelity can now offer financial organisations worldwide a next generation core banking solution regardless of their preferred hardware platform.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Cadence Adds Imaging Module

Mortgage Cadence, a Denver-based origination vendor, has released a new imaging module within its loan origination system. The product, available as an add-on module, enables Mortgage Cadence clients to capture, store, and manage data. Mortgage Cadence said it views the development of this imaging module as a necessary step toward electronic mortgages, while also responding to increased demand throughout the industry. The implementation of the module also allows Mortgage Cadences to extend its ACE business rules management engine. ACE Actions can be created to automatically insert records into document tracking, insert tasks to review documents, update loan status, and notify users of new documents when they arrive.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

Countrywide Reports 2005 Second Quarter Results

Countrywide Financial Corporation today announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2005. Second quarter results are here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:09 AM | Comments (0)

National City Selects TransUnion Cross-Sell Marketing Solution

TransUnion, a leading global information solutions company, today announced that National City Corporation has selected TransUnion's advanced cross-sell marketing solution. National City Corporation, one of the nation's largest financial holding companies, has an extensive Midwest banking network and also serves selected markets nationally.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)

MRG Selected to Provide HELOC Documents for Irwin Home Equity

Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of document preparation services for the financial industry, announced that Irwin Home Equity's Correspondent Lending Division has selected MRG to provide document packages for Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs).

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)

Triad Guaranty Insurance Introduces Web Docs℠, A Web-Based Loan Application and Secure Document Transfer Program

Triad Guaranty Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Triad Guaranty Insurance Corporation, has introduced Web Docs℠, a secure web-based proprietary platform for fast, easy electronic delivery of documents. Requests for mortgage insurance or contract underwriting services can be accomplished in seconds over a secure Internet connection.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)

DocuSign Speeds Up Real Estate, Mortgage, Home Building Industries

New, In-Person Signing Feature Adds to Growing Appeal, Convenience of DocuSign's Leading Online Signing Service

DocuSign, the leading online signing service, today demonstrated its new, In-Person Signing feature at Real Estate Connect San Francisco, the premier event for real estate, technology and innovation. This new service makes it even easier to complete all facets of real estate transactions electronically—from start to finish—saving time and lowering costs.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

Cervus Financial Group Inc. Announces Financial Results For The Nine Months Ended June 30, 2005

Financial Group Inc. ("Cervus"), is a financial services company dedicated to providing mortgages to selected mortgage broker firms. The company announced results of operations for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 with revenues of $2.5 million and residential mortgage originations of $181.5 million. Total Administered Assets increased 182% over the previous quarter ended March 31, 2005 to $276.8 million.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

TPG-Axon Makes Substantial Investment in ResMAE Financial Corporation

ResMAE Financial Corporation, a wholesale specialty residential mortgage originator and servicer, today announced that TPG-Axon Capital, a leading global investment firm, has made a $100 million investment in ResMAE.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

Unexpected Growth in June

Manufacturing and housing, two pillars of the U.S. economy, showed unexpected strength in June, suggesting growth may accelerate in the last half of the year.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by S. Germain at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

New-Home Sales Set Records

New single-family home sales jumped 4% in June to set new monthly and quarterly sales records thanks to upward revisions in the April and May sales numbers. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new-home sales rose from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million in May to 1.37 million in June. For the second quarter, sales of new homes hit a record seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.33 million. June and second-quarter results are "way beyond expectations," said Michael Carliner, an economist at the National Association of Home Builders. NAHB economists were expecting sales to top last year's record by 3.5%. Now, they will have to revise that estimate upward, Mr. Carliner said.

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Posted by S. Germain at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2005

Default Management Solutions

To download a .pdf of the brochure right click on the image above and select "Save Target As..." (Mac Users: control-click and select "Download Linked File As...") If you are able to view .pdf files within your browser, simply click on the icon above and the file will appear in a new window.

Posted by K. Perry at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

Default Technologies

Posted by K. Perry at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2005

The First American Corporation to Hold Second-Quarter Conference Call on July 27

The First American Corporation, the nation's largest data provider, today announced that it will host a conference call on July 27, 2005, at 11 a.m. EDT. The call will follow the announcement of the company's second-quarter operating results, which is scheduled for release on July 27, 2005, at 8:32 a.m. EDT.

Information about the call, which will also be broadcast over the Internet and is open to investors, members of the financial community and the media, is as follows: Toll-free inside the United States: (888) 955-3516, Pass code: First American. From outside the United States: (210) 234-5896.

An audio replay of the conference call will be available through August 3, 2005, by dialing (203) 369-1087. An audio archive of the call and a copy of the 2005 second-quarter earnings release, including the financial information contained therein, will also be available on First American's website.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces Settlement With California Department of Insurance on Captive Reinsurance Inquiry

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. today announced that it has reached a settlement with the California Department of Insurance on that department's inquiry into captive reinsurance practices in the title insurance industry.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)

LandAmerica Announces Dates for Second Quarter 2005 Results & Conference Call

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. will release its second quarter 2005 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday, July 26, 2005.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

LandAmerica Establishes Regulatory Reserves and Reaches Agreement with California

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: LFG - News), a leading provider of real estate transaction services, announces the company has established reserves in the second quarter 2005 of $19 million pre-tax to cover anticipated exposure to regulatory matters nationwide. According to President and Chief Executive Officer Theodore L. Chandler, Jr., "We believe that establishing the reserves appropriately addresses the financial uncertainty surrounding various regulatory investigations."

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

Greenspan: Better No GSE Bill Than HR1461

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan on Wednesday shot down GSE regulatory reform legislation passed by the House Financial Services Committee, saying it does not address his concerns about the systemic risk posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In response to a question asked by Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Mr. Greenspan said he preferred that Congress pass no government-sponsored enterprise reform bill rather than the one it has already passed, H.R. 1461 (the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005). The bill, which has yet to be taken up by the House, authorizes a new regulator to review Fannie's and Freddie's assets and liabilities, but stops short of capping their combined on-balance-sheet portfolios, which currently total $1.5 trillion. Mr. Greenspan favors reducing the on-balance-sheet holdings of the GSEs to just $200 billion. The Fed chairman made his remarks during testimony before the Financial Services Committee. Rep. Royce also opposes H.R. 1461.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

Wells Touts Record Profits Despite MSR Charge

Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's second-largest mortgage servicer, has reported record net income of $1.91 billion ($1.12 per share) for the second quarter, despite a significant revenue decline at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage related to the impairment of mortgage servicing rights. The profits were up 11% from $1.71 billion ($1.00 per share) a year earlier. Mortgage originations in the community banking segment totaled $85 billion in the second quarter, an increase of $20 billion from the level recorded in the first quarter, but down from $96 billion a year earlier, the company said. But Home Mortgage revenue declined $559 million, or 42%, from that of a year earlier due partly to a $304 million MSR impairment charge, Wells Fargo reported. The company's mortgage servicing portfolio totaled $874 billion of home loans as of June 30, up 17% from that of a year earlier. The MSR asset was valued at $8.5 billion, or $1.12% of loans serviced for others, compared with $8.5 billion and 1.37% as of June 30, 2004, according to Wells Fargo.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)

TransUnion Enters Title Insurance Underwriting Business in California

TransUnion, a leading global information solutions company, today announced the acquisition of four companies currently owned by Southern California-based Diversified Holdings Corporation. The acquisition further complements the complete offering of TransUnion's real estate services subsidiary, TransUnion Settlement Solutions, which helps mortgage lenders acquire new customers, originate and close loans faster and manage the post-closing process. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)

VueCentric and ComplianceEase® Form Strategic Partnership to Improve Mortgage Compliance

ComplianceEase®, a division of LogicEase Solutions Inc., a premier provider of regulatory compliance and risk management solutions, and VueCentric, Inc., a leading provider of web-based loan origination software, today announced a strategic partnership to integrate ComplianceEase's automated compliance solution, ComplianceAnalyzer™, into VueCentric's loan origination system, MortgageDashboard™.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)

Washington Mutual's Net Surges, Led by Mortgage, Retail Strength

Washington Mutual Chairman and CEO Kerry Killinger said the second-quarter results of its mortgage business shows that the Seattle thrift has turned its once-troubled home-loan business around. WaMu reports that mortgage business profits rose to $209 million from a $59 million loss a year ago, and revenue from home mortgage sales and servicing rose to $403 million from zero on improvements in hedging. The slowdown in refinancing, coupled with increased competition and hedging problems, dropped WaMu from the No.2 mortgage originator in 2003 to No. 3 in last year, according to the newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance. "We said we'd fix our mortgage business, and 12 months later, we've done exactly that," Killinger said in a conference call. "We're now positioned to go toe to toe with any competitor in the business.”

Posted by K. Perry at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

MBA: Servicing Costs Decline

With fewer loan set-ups and payoffs to manage than in the previous two years, the cost of mortgage servicing decreased and productivity improved in 2004, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The weighted average direct servicing cost dropped to $80 per loan in 2004, compared with $91 per loan in 2003. Loan servicing productivity increased to 1,188 loans serviced per employee in 2004 from 1,043 the year before. Indirect costs also improved, with mortgage servicing right amortization and writedowns (net of hedging) averaging $397 per loan, compared with a high of $511 per loan in 2003. The cost-of-servicing study, now in its seventh year, included participation from lenders that service 57% of all home loans, the MBA said.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

Housing Starts Fall Slightly

Single-family housing starts fell slightly in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just over 2 million units, according to government figures released Tuesday. However, compared with those of the same month a year ago, single-family starts rose 9.2%. Multifamily starts (five units or more) rose 16.2% in June from the previous month to 302,000 units annualized, compared with 275,000 units in June 2004. Greenwich Capital analyst Steve Stanley said the figures show that housing demand is "torrid rather than scalding," adding that "the bottom line is that the housing sector is still extremely strong and will presumably remain so as long as the demographic/fundamental demand forces are positive and mortgage rates are extremely low by historical standards."

Posted by K. Perry at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

Greenspan Signals Further Rate Increases

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday the economy should enjoy sustained growth with low inflation in coming months, a strong condition that will require continuing incremental increases in interest rates.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2005

First American Nationwide Documents Partners with ComplianceEase to Deliver Automated Mortgage Compliance

First American Nationwide Documents, a member of The First American Corporation family of companies; and ComplianceEase®, a division of LogicEase Solutions Inc., announced today a strategic alliance to integrate ComplianceEase’s ComplianceAnalyzer™ with First American’s Document Management System. The integration creates a seamless interface between First American’s solution, which automates all document production, management functions and workflow tasks; and ComplianceAnalyzer, an Internet-based technology that automates regulatory compliance processes, especially in the areas of federal, state and local high-cost and anti-predatory lending regulations.

“Integrating ComplianceAnalyzer into the First American platform will strengthen the compliance value to the loan-cycle workflow, allowing customers simple, one-click access to comprehensive regulatory compliance reviews,” said Dan Solomon, director of client services for First American Nationwide Documents.

Unlike traditional “doc prep” systems, First American Nationwide Documents provides a centralized and paperless value chain portal with total collaborative knowledge and real-time participation in all loan activities. Combining this closing system with ComplianceAnalyzer will enable First American customers to automatically identify instances of noncompliance and explain them in narrative findings reports. In a matter of seconds, the online system renders real-time decisions and automatically calculates a color-coded RiskIndicator™, signaling the level of risk of noncompliance.

“In today’s ever-changing regulatory environment, lenders are faced with new compliance challenges on a daily basis,” said David Girling, executive vice president of ComplianceEase. “First American recognizes these challenges and has brought together their core competency of providing document solutions with our specialized risk management solutions in order to help clients eliminate costly errors, improve loan quality and, most importantly, prevent salability issues in the secondary market.”

Posted by K. Perry at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial Buys Title Firm

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. on Thursday said it's buying assets of New York-based title insurance firm STG Associates, Inc. for an undisclosed price. Shares of the Jacksonville, Fla. title insurance firm rose 19 cents to $37.95 on Wednesday.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)

LandAmerica Announces Dates for Second Quarter 2005 Results & Conference Call

LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., a leading provider of real estate transaction services, will release its second quarter 2005 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday, July 26, 2005. Additionally, the company will sponsor a conference call on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, at 10:00 AM EDT to discuss the financial results.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

Baker GSE Compromise in the Works

Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., plans to meet with key Republican leaders on Thursday to explain a "reasonable compromise" involving a controversial affordable housing fund provision that could clear the way for the House to vote on the GSE regulatory reform bill before the August recess. The chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee that oversees government-sponsored enterprises told reporters that he has received commitments from some conservative Republicans that they will support the GSE bill with his amendments to the affordable housing fund. Thirty-four House Republicans had pledged to vote against the bill unless the AH fund is completely dropped from the legislation, which the Financial Services Committee approved by a 65-5 vote. The bill (H.R. 1461) requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to contribute 5% of their after-tax profits to an affordable housing fund, which the conservatives have labeled a "slush fund" that the GSEs can use to reward their political supporters. Rep. Baker said the Democrats are not "overjoyed" about the changes, but that "they understand what we are doing and don't find it unreasonable." Meanwhile, sources are telling MortgageWire that the Senate Banking Committee is moving toward marking up a GSE bill on July 26 or 27.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

Roundtable Stirs Hopes of RESPA Revelation

Lenders and others attending a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act roundtable Thursday afternoon are anticipating that HUD will finally reveal a RESPA reform rule it shelved in March 2004 due to industry and congressional opposition. One source indicated that the Department of Housing and Urban Development might provide a description of the rule, which was developed by former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, but not an actual copy. HUD declined to comment. "I think that would be very, very useful because we would have something specific to talk about and not talk in generalities," said mortgage banking attorney Robert Lotstein. Many participants are approaching the four-hour roundtable discussion with skepticism and caution because HUD Secretary Alfonso Jackson has not revealed his approach to RESPA reform, and 35 groups will be attending Thursday's event. "How can it be constructive with that many people in the room?" one trade group executive asked. Others are wondering why HUD is pushing RESPA reform without putting something on the table. "We have no reason to be positive about something we haven't seen," said Tim Gearan, senior legislative representative for the AARP.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)

SCME Forms Nonprime Division

SCME Mortgage Bankers Inc., San Diego, has announced the formation of Clearpath Lending Solutions, a wholesale division that will specialize in offering nonprime mortgage programs to mortgage brokers. Clearpath will roll out new online technologies, in addition to products, to support its customer base, SCME said. The division's product and pricing engine, Fast Path, enables users to search loan programs quickly and price the loan "instantly" according to borrower criteria, the company said. "Brokers can quickly upload borrower loan information from their POS system, reissue previously run credit reports from over 80 different credit providers, or manually enter borrower and loan information," SCME said.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

Secured Funding Strengthens Home Equity Loan Origination Via Bundling Services

Secured Funding, a full-service retail and wholesale lender specializing in second mortgages, has chosen LSI, a division of Fidelity National Finance, to order title and flood insurance and run credit reports within one system. Both Secured Funding's retail division and wholesale division will have access to this new capability.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)

Applications Fall

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 853.4 to 791.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the holiday-shortened week ended July 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

On an unadjusted basis, applications decreased 25.7% on the week but were up 22.0% from the level recorded a year earlier. The Purchase Index fell from 520.8 to 489.0 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index declined from 2788.2 to 2554.3. The four-week moving average for the Purchase Index fell 2.0%, from 501.7 to 491.7, and the four-week moving average for the Refinance Index declined 3.8%, from 2715.0 to 2611.7. (The moving averages are a recent addition to the MBA survey.) Refinancings represented 45.1% of total applications, down from 45.7% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 27.9%, its lowest level since March 2004, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from 5.58% to 5.62%, and points (including the origination fee) increased from 1.14 to 1.26 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

Realtors Update '05 Forecast

The National Association of Realtors has updated its forecast that 2005 will be a record year because of stronger-than-expected housing sales and continued low mortgage rates. Existing-home sales are expected to rise 2.8% to 6.97 million this year, up from the record 6.78 million in 2004. (A month ago, the NAR predicted resales would total 6.89 million.) Meanwhile, new-home sale should increase 3.2% to 1.24 million in 2005, which would also be a record, the NAR said. "[M]ortgage interest rates have remained lower than expected, and job gains are providing additional stimulus" to the housing market, said NAR chief economist David Lereah. The NAR is also forecasting that house price appreciation will top last year's mark, which was the highest since 1980. Mr. Lereah projects that the national median existing-home price will rise by 9.4% this year, up from 8.3% in 2004.

Posted by K. Perry at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

MBA Releases Long-Term Economic Forecast

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2005

The Best Bundles Improve Your Margins

Posted by K. Perry at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

The Best Bundles Can Boost Your Market Share

Posted by K. Perry at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2005

The First American Campus at Solana

For more information about the move to Solana by First American's Mortgage Information Services Group click here.

Posted by K. Perry at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2005

First American 6th Annual Charity Golf Classic

The sponsorship package for this years Golf Classic is available for download here. For more information visit the Golf Classic official website.

Posted by K. Perry at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

Bundled Services

Posted by K. Perry at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

Title Insurance and Services

Posted by K. Perry at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

Real Estate Tax Service

Posted by K. Perry at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

Broker Price Opinions

Posted by K. Perry at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

SourceMaster™

Posted by K. Perry at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

REO Servicing

Posted by K. Perry at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

National Default System

Posted by K. Perry at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

National Default Outsourcing

Posted by K. Perry at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

National Claims Outsourcing

Posted by K. Perry at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

Loss Mitigation Services

Posted by K. Perry at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

Loan Fulfillment Solutions

Posted by K. Perry at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

LienWatch™

Posted by K. Perry at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

Flood Data Services 2005 Overview

Posted by K. Perry at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

Flood Data Services

Posted by K. Perry at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

Field Services

Posted by K. Perry at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

eAppraiseIT

Posted by K. Perry at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

Nationwide Documents

Posted by K. Perry at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

Document Retrieval

Posted by K. Perry at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

CREDCO

Posted by K. Perry at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

Commercial Real Estate Services

Posted by K. Perry at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2005

Solana Chosen For New First American Headquarters

First American Real Estate Information Services has selected the Solana development in Westlake for its new 615,000-square-foot headquarters.

Read the entire story here.

Posted by K. Perry at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

The First American Corporation to Hold Second Quarter Conference Call

The First American Corporation, the nation's leading data provider, announced today that it will host a conference call on July 27, 2005, at 11 a.m. EDT. The call will follow the announcement of the company's second-quarter operating results, which is scheduled for release on July 27 2005, at 8:32 a.m. EDT.

Investors, members of the financial community and the media, can access the call by dialing (888) 955-3516, and giving the pass code First American. The call will also be webcast.

An audio replay of the conference call will be available through August 3, 2005, by dialing (203) 369-1087. An audio archive of the call will also be available for replay on First American's Web site.

Posted by K. Perry at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Financial Announces 2nd Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

Fidelity National Financial, Inc.will release 2nd quarter 2005 earnings before the opening of regular market trading on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. A conference call will follow at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Posted by K. Perry at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity National Title registers $475 mln in stock

Fidelity National Financial Inc. (FNF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday took an initial step toward splitting off its title insurance business, the largest in the United States, as part of a previously announced restructuring.ried about inflation," according to Mr. Stanley.

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Posted by K. Perry at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage Application Volume Up 9.6 Percent In Latest Survey

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 1.
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Home Equity Delinquency Rate Falls Again

The rate of serious delinquencies on securitized home equity loans continued to decline in March, according to Moody's Investors Service. A high level of issuance, a robust housing market and low interest rates continued to support strong home equity performance, the rating agency said. In March, the proportion of home equity debt that was 60 or more days past due stood at 5.19%, down from 6.59% in March of 2004. The delinquency rate is at its lowest level in eight years, Moody's said. New issuance also remained strong, with the addition of $39.1 billion of new pools to Moody's home equity index composite. The volume of new pools being securitized in March was 20.8% higher than a year earlier.

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Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Rise on Improved Economic Outlook

Mortgage rates bounded higher this week following the ninth interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve and positive economic news. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage climbed from 5.61 percent to 5.7 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders. The 30-year fixed rate mortgages in this week's survey had an average of 0.42 discount and origination points.

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Posted by K. Perry at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2005

First American Real Estate Solutions and Basepoint Analytics Announce Strategic Partnership

First American Real Estate Solutions (RES®), the nation’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, solutions and services; and BasePoint Analytics, a provider of custom analytics and fraud consulting, today announced a strategic partnership aimed at helping mortgage lenders measure fraud losses and minimize fraud exposure by deploying advanced analytics and by optimizing the loan review processes within the lender’s existing production environment. As part of this strategic partnership, and to demonstrate its commitment to the success of the alliance, First American has purchased a minority interest in BasePoint Analytics.

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Posted by K. Perry at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)

Tech Spending on the Rise

Spending on mortgage technology increased 14% in the past year, according to the second annual Mortgage Bankers Association Technology Study. Study participants spent an average of $156 per loan application and $250 per closed loan on origination-related technology costs. In addition, those that serviced loans spent an average of $25 per loan on servicing-related technology costs, the MBA reported. About 75% of 2004 technology spending (operating expense before depreciation, plus capital expenditures) was dedicated to origination functions and 25% to servicing functions. Of 2004 technology spending, 73% was baseline maintenance (required in order to continue conducting business), while the remaining 27% was discretionary (needed to improve functionality and performance). Regulatory and compliance obligations accounted for 9% of technology budgets. Looking ahead, participants expect their technology budgets to increase by 5% over the next year. The participants represented approximately 20% of the U.S. mortgage origination market, according to the MBA.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)

AVMs Immune to Transactional Pressure?

Automated valuation methods are immune to transactional pressures, according to a white paper issued by the Collateral Assessment and Technologies Committee of the Real Estate Information Professionals Association. REIPA said the study found that biases in full appraisal value opinions are sometimes pronounced, and consistent with allegations of transactional pressure placed on appraisers by originators. While AVMs have a lesser tendency to overstate values, they are not as accurate as full appraisals. But the overvaluations that come from a full appraisal are more highly correlated with mortgage default risk than are the overvaluations from AVMs, the study found. "High-quality AVM systems are proven solutions that are capable of bringing incremental objectivity, consistency, and controls to collateral valuation and risk assessment processes in our evolved and modern marketplace," said the white paper's author, Terry Loebs, senior vice president at Fiserv Inc. and a member of CATC's Executive Committee. "They can do so in an efficient and cost-effective fashion that even the best-intended appraisal industry reforms or new regulations may be hard-pressed to match." The paper, "Systemic Risks in Residential Property Valuations: Perceptions and Reality," was presented at REIPA's Annual Predictive Methods Conference in Newport Beach, Calif.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)

HUD Sets RESPA Meetings, but No Timetable

Taking yet another crack at RESPA reform, the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday announced six somewhat public meetings on the issue, while stressing that it has no timetable whatsoever on accomplishing the task. During a conference call with reporters where he left questions to an agency spokesman, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson declared, "I am more concerned about doing this right than doing it fast." A HUD spokesman said "everything's on the table" in regard to reforming the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, adding that one of the agency's priorities will be to save the consumer money. HUD estimates that consumers spend $55 billion each year on closing costs they do not fully understand. In attempting to once again reform RESPA (the agency halted a major reform effort in early 2004), HUD said it will focus on issues such as changes to the good-faith estimate, loan originator compensation, interest rate guarantees, and fixed settlement costs. Three meetings (by invitation only) involving consumer and industry groups will be held in Washington July 14, July 28, and Aug. 18. Three other meetings co-sponsored with the Small Business Administration will be held July 21, Aug. 4, and Aug. 11 in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Fort Worth, respectively.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)

Bank of America To Buy MBNA For $35 Billion

Bank of America Corp. said Thursday it will acquire MBNA Corp., one of the world's largest credit-card companies, in a $35 billion cash and stock deal that will result in 6,000 jobs cuts.

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Posted by K. Perry at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)

Slowing Sales, Price Rises Seen for Housing

Rising mortgage rates should slow housing sales and price increases in 2006, according to bond market economists, but some markets with rapid price appreciation could experience price declines. The Bond Market Association's Economic Advisory Committee is forecasting that the fixed rate on the 30-year mortgage will hit 6.4% by September 2006 and new/existing-home sales will drop 7.3%, from a record 8.2 million in 2005 to 7.6 million, in 2006. "We are likely to see a slowing down in the increase in home prices" in the Northeast and West Coast, and "possibly a reduction in home prices in focused areas," BMA senior vice president Michael Decker told reporters. Meanwhile, a consensus forecast by 10 bank economists sees an "extremely healthy" housing market for the next 18 months, with price increases finally peaking but no actual price declines. American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee also predicts that the mortgage rate will hit 6.5% by mid-2006. Looking beyond 2006, they predict an "orderly slowdown" in the housing market unless the U.S. economy goes into a recession.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

Fed Hikes Federal Funds Target

The Federal Reserve Board modified the statement accompanying its expected decision to raise the federal funds target rate by 25 basis points (to 3.25%), but in general there seemed to be little change in the committee's rate outlook. There is "no signal from the Fed that they are contemplating stopping," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist of RBS Greenwich Capital. Mr. Stanley said the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's monetary policy-making panel, made two changes to its statement. One indicated that, despite past energy price increases, economic expansion "remains firm," and another deleted a reference to "pricing pressures" in conjunction with inflation concerns, he said. This means that "the Fed is more confident about growth and less worried about inflation," according to Mr. Stanley.

Posted by K. Perry at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)