U.S. residential mortgage volume rose in the second quarter while the Federal Housing Administration and reverse mortgage businesses saw declines, according to a report based on the latest data from MortgageDaily.com. Overall, residential mortgage originations increased by 6.5 percent last quarter, though volume was still 37.9 percent below last year, the report says. “Recent data indicate loan pipelines have strengthened, suggesting
third-quarter originations will come in even stronger,” said Sam Garcia, published of Mortgage Daily. “Many borrowers might see a psychological threshold being broken as fixed rates teeter below 4 percent — potentially fueling demand for more refinance activity.” Still, FHA mortgage volume declined both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year to $71.6 billion worth of loan endorsements. During the first quarter, FHA endorsed $77.9 billion worth of loans. During the second quarter of 2009, that volume was $98.1 billion. Home equity conversion mortgages, or reverse mortgages, also declined in volume to $3.9 billion in the second quarter from last year’s $8.1 billion and the first quarter’s $5.9 billion. TRD

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U.S. residential mortgage volume rose in the second quarter while the Federal Housing Administration and reverse mortgage businesses saw declines, according to a report based on the latest data from MortgageDaily.com. Overall, residential mortgage originations increased by 6.5 percent last quarter, though volume was still 37.9 percent below last year, the report says. “Recent data indicate loan pipelines have strengthened, suggesting
third-quarter originations will come in even stronger,” said Sam Garcia, published of Mortgage Daily. “Many borrowers might see a psychological threshold being broken as fixed rates teeter below 4 percent — potentially fueling demand for more refinance activity.” Still, FHA mortgage volume declined both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year to $71.6 billion worth of loan endorsements. During the first quarter, FHA endorsed $77.9 billion worth of loans. During the second quarter of 2009, that volume was $98.1 billion. Home equity conversion mortgages, or reverse mortgages, also declined in volume to $3.9 billion in the second quarter from last year’s $8.1 billion and the first quarter’s $5.9 billion. TRD

There have been 164 mortgage-related firms that have collapsed or been closed so far this year, according to Mortgage Graveyard, a journal on failed lenders, already 40 more failures than were seen in all of 2008 and two failures away from breaking the record for the most in one year. Additionally, 98 federally insured institutions have failed in 2009, 300 percent more than was seen in 2008. Sam Garcia, publisher of MortgageDaily.com, which manages the Mortgage Graveyard, said that this trend could continue through the coming months. “We are likely to see 2009′s mortgage-related closings rise to more than 200 firms by the end of the year,” Garcia said. “Based on the rising number of regulatory orders being issued against financial institutions — the pace of bank failures is likely to get worse before improving.” TRD