Freddie Mac

Recent reports show inflation rising, but employment underperforming, while interest rates dropped across the board.

The government-sponsored enterprises have been returning to normal underwriting and are buying more loans than last year, but annual limits they have in place could become a concern.

The steady pace of refinance activity has also continued, as borrowers seek to take advantage of sub-3% rates.

DeVito takes over on June 1, replacing interim CEO Mark Grier, who returns to his seat on the government-sponsored agency's board.

A week of light data could possibly lead to further mortgage-rate volatility ahead depending on what monetary officials say in the coming days.

Inflation concerns may reverse the trend that has seen the 30-year rate decline six out of the last seven weeks.

Promising jobs numbers and favorable economic data are an encouraging sign for the post-pandemic future, but rising interest rates are sure to follow.

Only $89 billion of the $362 billion in new single-family volume came from purchase mortgages.

After two straight months on an upward trajectory, rising interest rates pushed homebuyer demand down to a third of where it stood at the start of 2021, according to Freddie Mac.

But the 10-year Treasury yield began backing down after the weekend as investors reacted to turmoil in Europe.

Also: How 9.3 million renters could enter the purchase market, lessons from Flagstar’s data breach and a possible 15-year plan for Fannie and Freddie.

The government-sponsored enterprise greenlit the use of CoreLogic and LoanCraft’s tools that validate self-employed borrowers’ incomes, and it certified Finicity, a firm that facilitates the equivalent for W-2 employees’ payroll data.

New assistance for renters may help but past efforts, while necessary, failed to get relief to renters in an expedient way, said David Brickman, who is now the head of a new agency lending platform backed by Barings and Meridian Capital.

The company is still searching for someone to fill the roll on a full-time basis, but the $600,000 annual salary cap may limit the candidate pool.

Some applaud the agency's recent delay of the mandatory compliance date for a new Qualified Mortgage standard. Others say it leads to more uncertainty for lenders, opens the door to additional changes and enables some companies to loosen their underwriting.

With the latest growth, interest rates spiked 37 basis points since the calendar flipped to 2021 alongside rising Treasury bond yields.

The agency issued a proposal moving the compliance date for the Qualified Mortgage rule revamp to October 2022.

After several weeks of resistance, mortgage rates are now moving in lockstep with the recent increases in the 10-year Treasury yield.

The $16.9 billion in issuance marked the biggest annual number seen since the government-sponsored enterprise reconstituted its risk sharing program in 2013.

With the most recent stimulus aiding economic recovery, mortgage lending’s feeding frenzy could be coming to an end.