Originations

The increase won’t hurt the incentive for the average home shopper, but it means those who were looking to “buy the dip” in prices amid the pandemic may have missed their chance.

Volumes were at a record high in the final quarter of 2020 but lenders didn’t make quite as much since gains on loan sales to the secondary market fell.

While the economic recovery and stimulus checks drove upward movement in purchases, it wasn’t enough to offset tumbling refinance activity.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is preparing to retire certain loan underwriting flexibilities after extending them one additional month to April 30.

After a booming 2020, more mortgage lenders than ever before expect diminishing margins in the coming months as climbing interest rates set up heightened competition.

The expansion of borrower data collected in the new URLA upends an industry standard and lenders are experiencing some growing pains.

A slight lift in the purchase market paired with a surprising reversal in the size of the average loan, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The newly public digital mortgage giant is relying on a diverse set of loan channels to take on competitors in an increasingly crowded field, CEO Anthony Hsieh said in an earnings call this week.

Between the dip in refis and the approach of the spring buying season, mortgage lenders are likely to start paying a little more attention to the purchase market, which is less rate-sensitive.

While financing costs are still low enough to offset sticker-shock from rising home prices, a slight increase in the average 30-year conforming rate weighed on borrowers, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The subsidiary of New Residential Investment produced nearly $400 million in non-QM volume in the first quarter of 2020 before putting a hold on the product offering in March.

Mortgage applications decreased 1.9% from one week earlier as rising rates started to affect refinance activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Despite mortgage rates expected to rise modestly in 2021, a bolstered Biden administration stimulus package and COVID-19 vaccination efforts bring promise for economic recovery.

The volume of Ginnie securities issued in December marked the first time more than $80 billion has been issued in a month.

When the Uniform Residential Loan Application transition deadline hits on March 1, a data set within Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter Program, which many lenders have used for a host of functions, will no longer be supported and unprepared lenders could later experience disruption.

Industry watchers make their wildest guesses (more or less) about developments in real estate finance that could rock the industry in the upcoming months.

Mortgage rates yet again have dropped to a record low, even as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury flirts with breaking back above the 1% mark, according to Freddie Mac.

With coronavirus inoculations underway and government stimulus likely to come, the outlook for next year’s housing market and lending environment grew more optimistic in December.

Last year, smaller lenders were put at a slight disadvantage in terms of what they were charged in guarantee fees when they sold loans for cash.

The average per-loan profit margin remains incredibly strong, but the share of senior executives expecting it to fall has risen markedly.