Origination

And a trio of large publicly traded nonbank lenders looking to defend market share may consider buying those mid-sized brethren, a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods report said.

Their summer gains come as home price growth begins to slip and reverse mortgage volumes hit a two-and-a-half year low in September.

Rising interest rates could force some community banks to fall below a critical capital threshold that the Federal Housing Finance Agency uses to determine eligibility for Home Loan bank advances.

Softening prices have yet to lead to a turnaround in purchase activity, even as the average loan size fell under $400,000.

And rising rates caused the government-sponsored enterprise to cut its forecast for this year.

The cooperative, which is managed by a subsidiary of Altisource Portfolio Solutions, is adding locations in line with a pilot program established earlier this year.

As many homebuyers' spending power is diminished, home price growth in the Bay Area has slowed, fewer homes are selling above listing price and more sellers are asking for less.

Decline was largely driven by a large dip in cash-out refinance locks.

The company previously announced it would also close its consumer-direct operations, which relied heavily on refinance activity.

Lenders pulled back on government-refinance programs and products for lower-credit score borrowers, pushing loan availability down for the seventh month in a row, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.