Refinance

Consumer advocates and mortgage industry officials are urging Sandra Thompson, the new acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to undo many policies that her predecessor, Mark Calabria, put in place over the past year.

Increases in refinances, both in applications and average size, help lead overall numbers higher

A spike in government-sponsored applications helped lead indexes to their largest gains in several weeks.

Changed borrower psychology and the severe housing inventory shortage dropped lending activity across the board, according to Black Knight.

More than two-thirds surveyed said they expect to make less money over the next three months as price reductions ramp up along with a market shift to purchases.

Refinancings more than doubled the year-ago amount and made up for the slowed purchase activity, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Average loan size also continues to increase, as demand remains high and costs in homebuilding materials rise this year.

Economic recovery should soar into the summer as vaccination rates climb and restrictions loosen up, but low inventory is likely to limit mortgage activity into the next year, according to Fannie Mae.

Hedge accounting will align Fannie’s reporting with competitor Freddie Mac, and will address a mismatch between the recorded value of financial instruments used to offset interest-rate volatility on mortgages and the loans themselves.

Only $89 billion of the $362 billion in new single-family volume came from purchase mortgages.

Rising cases and vaccine issues caused bond yields to fall, but inflationary pressures will likely reverse that course.

But the percentage of weekly applications in that category was closer to 60%, the Mortgage Bankers Association found.

Mortgage rates that are rising in tandem with a recovering economy dampened borrower activity, even with prime homebuying season underway.

While the economic recovery and stimulus checks drove upward movement in purchases, it wasn’t enough to offset tumbling refinance activity.

Servicers struggled to bring back their borrowers as the overall retention rate crept down to a nadir in the fourth quarter, according to Black Knight.

A slight lift in the purchase market paired with a surprising reversal in the size of the average loan, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Just over 12 billion euros ($14.6 billion) of new issue, refi and reset paper has priced so far this year, surpassing a previous high of 7.3 billion euros in the first two months of 2018.

Between the dip in refis and the approach of the spring buying season, mortgage lenders are likely to start paying a little more attention to the purchase market, which is less rate-sensitive.

While its net income declined annually for the second consecutive year, CEO Hugh Frater touted Fannie Mae’s resiliency in a record year for providing mortgage liquidity.

The company purchased $1.1 trillion of single-family mortgages and $83 billion of multifamily loans during 2020.