Mortgages

A decline in interest rates during the first quarter drove a Freddie Mac indicator higher for the first time since mid-2023, while a leading investment firm announced a deal aimed at boosting originations for government-sponsored enterprise financing.

Proceeds could be used to support the company's loan originations as well pay down existing debt coming due in the next three years.

Markets appeared to welcome signs of future rate relief, with the latest Freddie Mac average falling for the fifth time in six weeks.

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.

Rate locks have increased every month this year, but May's pace came in more subdued than early-year numbers, according to Mortgage Capital Trading.

A Fannie Mae survey-high 86% of prospective buyers said it was a bad time to buy a home in May.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average dropped back below the 7% level as investors reacted positively to news the economy is slowing, Freddie Mac said.

Despite the surge of inventory, the number of available homes is still below pre-pandemic levels, while price movements show wide regional variations, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

Although experts are predicting an active season, actual damages could be lower depending on how many storms make landfall and where, Corelogic reported.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury also rose in the past week as bond and note auctions got tepid responses from investors.

Fears that foreclosures and abandoned property rates could spike once Covid-19 moratoriums ended have not come to fruition, Attom Data Solutions said.

The Federal Housing Administration's clarification addresses interpretations of an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that increased industry costs.

If approved by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the program will not lead to large amounts of home equity being extracted, nor is it mission creep, wrote Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Bose George.

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

Professionals also must grapple with the issue of wanting liquidity on assets in an era of low production.

Fannie Mae economists suggest home sales will remain resilient amid anticipated dips in both home loan volume and consumer spending.

BofA is betting the Federal Reserve will make only one cut to the federal funds rate by the end of this year. MBA says originators are in for a $1.6 to $1.8 trillion year.

A recommendation to give Ginnie Mae expanded authorities is drawing focus in the reactions to a Financial Stability Oversight Council report on nonbank risks.

Compared to a year ago, investors bought a greater number of properties and made up a larger share of overall purchases, returning to the market faster than individual buyers, according to Redfin.

Stakeholders are watching carefully as the 2023 crisis and a capital proposal increase banker wariness of mortgage assets, speakers at Invisso's MBS Forum said.