FHA

Mortgage lending standards loosened in March, as a swell in jumbo credit helped drive an expansion in availability for the third straight month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

With interest rates down, purchase mortgages accounted for the vast majority of millennial homebuyers' loans in February, according to Ellie Mae.

Mortgage refinance applications reached their highest level in three years as interest rates plunged last week in the aftermath of the Federal Open Market Committee's March meeting.

There was a huge rise in mortgage refinance application activity due to the large drop in interest rates following last week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Mortgage applications increased last week but unlike the prior period, it was driven by refinance volume as interest rates fell to a one-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Federal Housing Administration is returning to manual reviews of higher-risk loans it insures because it's finding that a growing share have lower credit scores, higher debt-to-income ratios, or both.

New-home mortgage applications are on the rise, incentivizing builders to add housing stock in a market drained of supply and signaling a healthy spring buying season ahead, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Federal Housing Administration is moving forward with a long-delayed plan to reduce the term of the home warranty required for high loan-to-value mortgages on new houses.

Mortgage lenders are optimistic about their business prospects during this spring's home purchase season even with the negative sentiments about demand in the previous three months, Fannie Mae said.

A pair of professors with industry ties say reverse mortgages deserve a second look, partly because of a series of federal reforms in recent years designed to protect taxpayers and consumers.

Purchase application volume increased, both week-to-week and year-over-year, as high-end buyers as well as those that need government loans entered the market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The 2020 budget would add the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FSOC to congressional appropriations, charge lenders for FHA upgrades and require universities to have skin in the game on student loans.

Millennial homebuyers took advantage of a winter lull in interest rates, using the opportunity to refinance their loans, according to Ellie Mae.

Mortgage applications decreased 2.5% from one week earlier, although conventional purchase loan volume and amount is on the rise, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The conventional market recaptured a lot of the first-time homebuyers it lost during the financial crisis, but service members instead have increasingly stuck with loans insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mortgage applications increased 5.3% from one week earlier, as the stable rate environment enticed homebuyers into the market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Policymakers could improve independent mortgage banks' financial stability by giving these companies improved access to liquidity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The six private mortgage insurers had a great year as they continued to grab market share from the Federal Housing Administration. Despite some headwinds, 2019 is shaping up to be another good year.

The agency's pilot program, designed to streamline mortgage insurance applications associated with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, will now include applications for new construction and substantial rehabilitation.

From FICOs to purchase volume, here's a look at seven mortgage lending trends that will shape the housing market this year.