Refinance

The number of homeowners likely to qualify for a refinance nearly doubled in a single week following the largest mortgage rate decline since the housing bubble burst, according to Black Knight.

Income-related mortgage application fraud risk has the potential to increase as competition rises among buyers during the peak spring season, First American said.

The digital lender rebranded its mortgage business as SoFi Home Loans about four months after it took a step back from real estate finance to redesign its processes.

There was a huge rise in mortgage refinance application activity due to the large drop in interest rates following last week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

If mortgage rates fall below 4%, it could more than double the dollar volume of agency mortgages exposed to refinancing incentive, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods found.

Freddie Mac reduced its 2019 origination projection in its latest monthly forecast, but strong coinciding housing numbers could suggest a future upward revision.

The Federal Reserve decision to shift into Treasuries could pull rates down and increase the prepayment speeds on mortgage-backed securities.

While fading 9.53% annually, February mortgage delinquencies posted a month-over-month increase for the first time in 12 years, according to Black Knight.

The home purchase loan share is up and closing times are down ahead of an expected healthy spring buying season, and declining mortgage rates could be a reason, according to Ellie Mae.

Fannie Mae estimates the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to hold at 4.4% through 2019 and 2020 due to the overall slowdown in the economy, according to the March housing forecast.