Mortgages

Interest-only loans, popular pre-2008, have revamped requirements and can be an option for borrowers looking for short-term lower payments, stakeholders say.

The Department of Veterans Affairs ended a break for borrowers put at a disadvantage by a discontinuation of pandemic aid as they transitioned to a new program.

The potential impacts of import tariffs cloud the outlook, though, and could lead mortgage rates to surge and fall throughout the coming year.

Meanwhile, home prices are set to grow 3 to 4% in 2025, a Fitch report predicts.

Fannie Mae set aside $752 million for credit losses in its apartment complex lending business in part because of fraud or suspected fraud, denting profits amid an industrywide scrutiny of borrowers. 

The consortium of businesses intends to work with state regulators to protect consumers as interest from secondary market investors also grows.

The latest refinance surge helped lift total application activity up for a second straight week, even as purchases fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The government-sponsored enterprises were not meant to remain in conservatorship permanently, but privatizing them once again must include a new set of rules that minimize market disruptions and maximize their focus on making homeownership affordable.

Most participants in a monthly Wolters Kluwer survey no longer think the next short-term rate reduction will be in March.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage continues to slip away from the 7% mark, Freddie Mac said, but experts still expect them to stay higher for longer.