Mortgage Bankers Association

Mortgage applications increased 4.2% from one week earlier, rising for the first time in over a month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgages originated to finance apartments and other income-producing properties managed to generate an overall year-to-year increase in the first half, even though there are declines in some parts of the market.

Mortgage applications waned for the fifth week in row, hitting their lowest levels in six months, as the summer's growing interest rates plateaued.

The risk of mortgage defaults reached its highest point since the second quarter of 2015 as lenders loosen credit, according to VantageScore.

July's new-home sales were at their highest pace since April, leading to a 3.5% year-over-year increase in mortgage applications to purchase recently constructed homes, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Mortgage applications declined for the fourth consecutive week as interest rates remained at high levels.

Mortgage credit accessibility kept climbing in July, mostly thanks to an expansion of jumbo loan products offered, pushing that index to its historical high point, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage applications dropped for the third consecutive week around rising interest rates and languid housing starts.

As regulators move forward with policy changes designed to curb so-called refinance churning of Department of Veterans Affairs-insured mortgages, concerns have surfaced about the fate of loans originated during the transition period.

As the mortgage industry continues evolving digitally, MISMO is developing standards for business-to-consumer transactions on mobile devices, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A lack of new and existing homes for sale led to a drop in purchase and overall mortgage application volume although refinances grew.

Rising median home prices and tight housing inventory led purchase and overall mortgage application volume to fall although refinances rose.

When big banks bailed on brokers during the housing crisis, United Wholesale Mortgage doubled down. As third-party originations now make a comeback, the family-owned company is determined to chip away at retail lenders' dominance.

Greater consumer access to credit could help mortgage bankers replenish originations eroded by higher rates, but they are reluctant to depart from the status quo to provide it.

The job market gaining steam year-over-year pushed the purchase and overall mortgage application volume upward despite refinance activity dropping to an 18-year low.

Access to mortgage credit inched up in June, as competition for jumbo loans resulted in looser underwriting, but government lending standards got more restrictive, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's practice of "regulation by enforcement" and use of nonbinding guidance materials makes its regulatory efforts "unfair and ineffective" to lenders and servicers, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Volatility in the financial markets, uncertainty with foreign trade and the housing supply deficit caused mortgage applications to drop for the second straight week.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew $44.3 billion during the first three months of 2018, the largest first-quarter gain since before the Great Recession, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

While purchase mortgages account for a growing share of overall volume, industrywide investments in more automated and efficient underwriting processes have helped lower instances of fraud.