Underwriting

Product availability for July remained at levels last seen in 2013 as rates briefly broke above the 7% mark during the month, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

But mortgage numbers remain historically very low and fall short of pre-pandemic levels, according to VantageScore's latest monthly report.

Renovations, already the leading use for these borrowings, increased their share to nearly two-thirds of the products' market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Ten Western states that benefited from a pandemic-driven boom reported value declines in May, CoreLogic said.

The findings from Standard & Poor's show little impact from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's proposal regarding what information is required to underwrite a conforming mortgage.

Weaker economic conditions, rising interest rates and expected changes in investment returns drove the reduced expectations, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

But with rates turning back up this past week, activity could fall in February, Black Knight Optimal Blue said.

However, a tiered pricing system will limit an inflation-driven increase to under 10% for a small group of originators.

The change, effective Dec. 21, is being put into place two years after it was first proposed.

The development, touted as an industry-first, is the latest move by the government-sponsored enterprises to expand housing opportunities for first-time and underserved homebuyers.