Origination

With Control Your Price loan officers can lower the interest rate by up to 40 basis points on a loan and by 1.25 percentage points across their pipeline.

The move, which comes with an unspecified number of layoffs, is expected to cost the company $3.8 million to $4.6 million in pretax charges in the second quarter.

The shift opens the door for regional banks to increase their aggregation activities, analysts said.

But refinances saw an upturn and pushed overall loan activity higher in the first week of 2023, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Many industry stakeholders have been watching certain credit measures closely for signs that underwriting is loosening out of concern it could do so excessively, but indicators still show it's historically tight.

Among current investors in the market, 7% are between 18 and 29 years old, while 15% of those looking to make their first purchases also belong to the same age group, according to a new study.

Significantly fewer households expected to be in worse shape in the coming year than was the case last summer, according to a December survey. The results are a positive sign for banks at the start of earnings season.

Declining mortgage rates and home prices drove more positive views compared to the prior month, but December's overall outlook remained negative, Fannie Mae said.

The plaintiffs allege that the banks did not catch obvious red flags or implement proper safeguards such as requiring two employees to approve each transaction.