Origination

Some observers said the central bank should have suspended dividends entirely in response to an unprecedented economic emergency caused by the pandemic. Others said its more cautious moves were appropriate because big banks' capital is strong and the economy could bounce back.

Compared with the week prior, approximately 83,000 more loans from all investor types became forborne.

Home sales plunged 70% in May in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic — the largest drop in the country, according to the Remax National Housing report.

Sales of single-family existing homes in Maine fell by a staggering 21.3% in May from a year earlier, nearly matching the most recent comparable one-year decline of 21.4% following the Great Recession, in June 2011.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending June 26.

Home sales in May fell sharply in Flagler and Volusia counties in Florida as the coronavirus pandemic continued to put a damper on the local real estate market.

But the coronavirus put a hold on the market in April and remains an overhanging cloud for the future.

Mortgage rates were flat this week and remain near all-time lows, according to Freddie Mac. But significant numbers of borrowers remain unable to take advantage of them.

Central Ohio home sales fell 21% in May compared with the previous year, but climbed a bit from a horrific April, as the real estate industry continues to wrestle through coronavirus.

An imminent high court ruling about the independence of the bureau's director, coupled with an election victory for Joe Biden, could doom a plan to extend GSEs' exemption from tough debt-to-income requirements on mortgages.