Origination

The strong U.S. economy pushed mortgage rates in the past week to their highest level in over seven years, and further hikes are on the way, according to Freddie Mac.

Lenders may start to see more homebuyers enter the market as the number of homes for sale is higher than at any point this year, according to Trulia.

Mortgage application defect risk is down from a year ago, but Hurricane Florence will likely tear through results in affected areas in the coming months.

Bemortgage, currently a division of Chicago's Bridgeview Bank formed last November by a former Guaranteed Rate executive, will become a part of CrossCountry Mortgage.

As home prices continue to rise, a record-high 77% of people surveyed think it's currently a strong time to sell a house, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The House of Representatives passed two bills that would tie appraisal waivers for Small Business Administration loans to bank rules for commercial real estate loans, despite objections from the Appraisal Institute about its members being cut out of transactions.

Nationally, home sales numbers are on the decline as prices rise and inventory remains low, but New Mexico continues to buck the trend with monthly increases in the number of sales reported to the Realtors Association of New Mexico.

Finance of America Reverse is offering a new second-lien alternative to the Federal Housing Administration's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage that can be placed on a property with a pre-existing first-lien loan.

Mortgage applications were up 2.9% from one week earlier, even as the rate for the 30-year conforming mortgage reached its highest point in over seven years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Purchases of new homes rebounded in August from the slowest pace in almost a year, a potential sign of stabilization in the market, according to government data Wednesday.