Mortgage applications

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the FICO credit-scoring model has drawbacks in price, predictiveness and market competition, and stakeholders should develop a more open-sourced model that uses artificial intelligence.

Affordability improved for a fourth straight month, but questions remain about whether recent trends will bring a significant number of buyers into the housing market.

Purchase activity trudged along during what lenders describe as a traditional end-of-summer slump.

While the lock-in effect on existing supply has helped drive consumer interest in new construction, first-time buyers have been taking a greater share of that inventory.

Steady purchase demand still led to a positive August according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Purchases managed a small rise, but refinance activity held steady, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Declining refinance activity offset the growth in government-backed purchases, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Homeowners responded to moderating interest rates and brought in significantly more refinance volume, with Department of Veterans Affairs numbers more than doubling from the prior week.

Companies are seeing evidence of income falsification, which previous research shows is the most common type of fraud or defect risk.

Loan volumes fell for the third straight week, with depressed demand for government lending driving activity downward, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Mortgage application activity had its largest decline in a year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Lending activity among builders surged over 22% annually in December, but the growing share of FHA-backed borrowing in the segment took a step back for the first time in four months, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The end-of-year slowdown comes after a recent fall surge, but overall activity still finished 6% below late 2022 levels, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Activity fell despite an ongoing slide in rates, but elevated interest in VA loans, particularly refinances, managed to lift the government-sponsored index higher by a fraction, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The lawsuit accuses Navy Federal of violating the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act after a CNN report that the lender approved a lower percentage of Black and Latino mortgage applicants.

Falling interest rates are behind a recent spike in government-backed lending as well as refinances, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Rising purchase activity countered falling refinances, as declining interest rates helped bring some aspiring buyers to market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Loan activity overall came in higher for the second week in a row, with interest rates flattened following an extended volatile period, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Loan activity fell for a second consecutive week, dropping to levels last seen in 1996, as a potential government shutdown loomed.

Purchase-loan activity dropped again to its most subdued level in close to three decades, while refinances saw their smallest numbers in eight months, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.