Servicing

The amounts canceled may not clear away enough debt to help all recipients immediately qualify or improve their ability to repay, but over time the savings may bolster originations and performance.

The number of these mortgage borrowers getting back on track with payments has been roughly halved since March, according to Black Knight's initial take on July numbers.

Traditional metrics provide limited insight as to whether a portfolio is on its way to reperformance, so instead of tracking things like calls per employee, measure the number of homeowners helped.

Updated counterparty requirements recently coordinated with the Federal Housing Finance Agency affect a constituency that has kept growing, albeit at a slightly slower pace, according to new mortgage-backed securities research.

Some housing numbers have been weaker than expected because affordability remains relatively low, outweighing slightly higher refinancing that has an upside for lenders but a potential downside for servicers.

At the same time, the share of overall vacancies fell due to limited inventory, according to a new Attom report.

The declines in home mortgage operations followed a profitable first quarter as originations slumped and the payments business generated less net financial income than in the previous fiscal period.

New capital standards the government bond insurer added were lower than the ones in previously proposed rules that had riled lenders and servicers.

The latest increase suggests the housing finance industry is half done with its transition from extraordinary pandemic relief back to more normal loan performance.

The move will reduce the excess capacity in the field but the effects on servicing are likely to dampen the Federal Housing Administration market, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said.