Servicing

Home prices dropped again on a monthly basis in October, exacerbating the loss in home equity among recent buyers, but the size of the falloff was the smallest since June.

The government mortgage-bond insurer's requirements that restrict investor involvement are likely the greatest challenge to finding more purchasers of MSRs, experts said at a servicing conference Monday.

The company was profitable on a net basis but took a comprehensive loss linked to market volatility's effect on mortgage bonds.

The $1.3 trillion decline was the largest quarterly drop in dollar volume and the biggest falloff on a percentage basis since 2009, according to Black Knight.

The company's volume fell behind its wholesale-focused chief competitor's in the third quarter but management foresees potential weakness in the broker channel.

The share of home loans late by more than 30 days or in foreclosure in August inched back down to 2.8% from 3% the previous month, according to CoreLogic.

That's left mortgage servicing rights investors with fewer concerns about runoff, but buyers have less in the way of recapture opportunities.

The automation provider, which could merge with ICE Mortgage next year, is updating secondary market tools sorely needed in a volatile market.

The impairment rate for securitized non-qualified mortgages improved a little in August after increasing slightly the two previous months.

The agreement, the lender and servicer's only such facility, is set to expire at the end of next September.

Wind and storm surge damage to residential and commercial properties could reach $47 billion, according to a CoreLogic analysis.

Three percent of all mortgages were 30 or more days past due on their scheduled payment or in foreclosure in July.

While the agency affirmed the bank's current high ratings, it also cited instances of noncompliance, which led to the downgrade.

The month ended with 54,000 less properties for which the borrower was at least 30 days or more late on their payments, Black Knight said.

Payment suspensions on loans securitized through the government-backed market stopped falling in May, plateaued over the summer, and reversed course last month, according to an industry trade association.

SPS will have roughly 1.4 million mortgages in its portfolio after the transaction closes, something the two companies estimate will occur in the fourth quarter of this year.

Still near historic low levels, the share of borrowers entering the early stages of delinquency in June increased 0.1 percentage point.

Historically tight underwriting reinforced by regulation and third-party reviews could be buffers, so long as manufacturing standards for production and servicing hold up as residential mortgage companies downsize, according to KBRA.

Completions in August remained far lower than before COVID-19 arrived in the United States but initial actions rose fast enough to potentially meet expectations that they'll normalize in 2023.

Housing's unusually high appreciation rates have now slowed for three months straight, and the number of metropolitan areas that are considered overvalued keeps growing, according to CoreLogic.