Mortgages

The partnership will expand UHM reach to new markets in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina and California.

Loans with payments late by a year or more were the biggest sub-category within the distressed portfolios a year ago, but now mortgages that've been late for 30-59 days are.

But the lower rates of the past month did result in a $7-billion boost to its origination forecast for 2022.

The uptick in the 60-day-plus metric could reverse the bulk of the decline that occurred between 2019 and 2021.

The Lansing, Michigan-based firm was awarded the contract this spring and takes over from Novad Management Consulting, which had previously serviced government-held HECMs since 2014.

Borrowers gained an average of $34,300 in home equity since the third quarter of last year, but that's almost half the amount of growth recorded over the summer.

The products are currently limited to a single distribution channel, but the company hasn't ruled out offering them through third-party originators in the future.

The deal will close for $10 million in cash, plus the right to purchase nearly 33.9 million shares of common stock.

Deterioration in credit quality should put strain on collateral originated in late 2021 and early 2022, affecting performance, Barclays Credit Research said.

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.

Lenders that offer streamlined refinances in the future shouldn't be required to consider the borrower's income or employment status, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group's comments were part of its response to a request for information on mortgage products that would support the financial stability of households.

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

"This is Han Solo in carbonite: This is a market that could stay frozen for quite some time," said Benjamin Keys, a real estate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Nonbanks will probably see the least change, while securitization lenders, depositories and REITs are likely to experience the most, an Urban Land Institute survey suggests.

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

The decline in loan activity and softening prices also helped drive down builder sentiment for the 11th month in a row.

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 government-sponsored enterprise put more money aside as mortgage interest rates rise and home prices start to decline.

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.