Origination

Real estate agents have canceled professional meetings, seen clients show up in masks, and resorted to fist bumps and elbow nudges instead of their traditional social currency — firm handshakes and longish hugs.

The pandemic has upended staffing plans, sparked concerns about servicers’ capacity to handle the expected crush of missed payments, and even raised questions about their ability to stay afloat.

With the economy and job market both healthy before the COVID-19 crisis, first-time homebuyers took advantage of low mortgage rates and hit their highest volume in two decades.

The Trump administration is considering a plan to allow homeowners whose income was cut by the coronavirus to delay mortgage payments. Still to be decided is a mechanism for borrowers to catch up.

Ramifications of a global pandemic are starting to ripple through the Southern California housing market as virtual home tours replace in-person showings and homeowners cancel open houses to avoid coming face-to-face with potentially infected home shoppers.

Mortgage applications to purchase new homes took a small step back in February from record levels during the previous month, but further positive momentum could be blunted by the coronavirus.

Homebuilder sentiment fell to a four-month low in March as expectations of future sales dimmed amid a virus outbreak that threatens to dent activity across the industry and cause a recession.

With small businesses feeling the financial scourge of the coronavirus, bridge loans could be the direction they turn to keep things afloat.

Add continued growth in commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding to the list of things that the economic fallout from the coronavirus might affect.

The Federal Reserve's most recent economic-stimulus effort could reduce disparities between a rally in Treasurys and a relative slump in mortgage-backed securities that contributed to higher average home-lending rates last week.