FICO

Average credit scores for mortgage borrowers remain at a 2018 high, a sign that lenders aren't easing standards despite refinance candidates already falling off on higher rates, according to Ellie Mae.

Subprime originations are climbing in multiple consumer loan categories, including mortgages, but the increase is much smaller in the home loan sector than it is in other markets, according to TransUnion.

A new credit score that includes consumers' cash flow alongside their credit score is winning praise for its potential to help expand access to credit, but some worry it gives the credit bureaus even more data that could be compromised.

In a move designed to improve access to financial products for consumers with low credit scores and short credit histories, Experian, FICO and Finicity are developing an "UltraFICO" score that lets individuals share checking and savings account data and help lenders better assess risk.

Better consumer credit quality helped push the serious mortgage delinquency rate to its lowest level since the Great Recession, but originations remain low due to tighter underwriting standards and eroding homebuyer affordability, according to TransUnion.

An increase in millennials making home purchases is a call to the mortgage industry for a quicker, more efficient digital process.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is suspending its ongoing review of new credit scoring models and will instead move forward with creating a regulatory framework for providers of alternative credit scores to apply and be evaluated for use by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The average millennial borrower credit score remained unchanged in May, but values by city painted very different pictures, according to Ellie Mae.

The annual progress report on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorships reiterated that a new credit score model will likely not be operational until after the implementation of a new Single Security Initiative.

A late addition to regulatory relief legislation would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to review credit-scoring alternatives, but some say the provision is redundant.

The $446 million Pearl Street Mortgage Company 2018-1 Trust is backed by 30-year, fixed-rate loans with credit characteristics in line with recent private-label prime jumbo transactions rated by Fitch Ratings.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Friday it will give commenters more time to weigh in on a potential update to the credit scoring requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The average VantageScore last year was higher than it has been since 2007 due to improved hiring and despite stagnant wages that aren't keeping pace with rising debt levels.

Consumer credit scores are improving, but many qualified borrowers are still hesitant about buying a house. New tools are helping lenders better assess risk and show consumers with lower credit scores they can qualify for mortgages.

The gap between the average credit score for homebuyers and other consumers has widened to its highest point in 12 years, and lenders don't know what, if anything, to do about it.

The two government-sponsored enterprises have relied on the “classic” FICO credit scoring model for the past 12 years. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency is weighing whether the GSEs should upgrade to more recent scoring alternatives.

Borrowers will be able to take out a substantially bigger home loan backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac next year, thanks to a 6.8% increase in home prices nationwide.

Competition in other areas of consumer lending has driven both VantageScore and FICO to build credit scoring models that are more accurate and more consumer-friendly. Permitting that competition in the mortgage market can increase certainty for lenders and transparency for investors.

Efforts to persuade regulators to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use alternative credit scores would stifle competition between the credit bureaus and FICO and do little to expand access to credit, according to industry analyst Chris Whalen.