Refinance

Any growth in housing starts and home sales in the second half of 2019 will be muted by continuing inventory constraints and rising home prices, according to Freddie Mac.

President Trump has signed the Protecting Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, which aims to address concerns that rules around certain VA refinances were impeding those loans' inclusion in secondary market pools.

Mortgage fraud risk took a serious dive in the second quarter amid lower interest rates, which brought more refinance transactions into the market, according to CoreLogic.

Title insurers benefited from the increase in origination volume — especially refinancings — during the second quarter, as open order counts increased compared with one year prior.

Fewer consumers applied for mortgages last week even as interest rates declined by 3 to 4 basis points for all product types, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

While seasonal factors were attributed to the monthly rise in mortgage delinquencies for June, the jump was still much higher than last year's fairly steady increase, according to Black Knight.

The second quarter continues to shape up as a good one for bank mortgage lenders — and one ancillary service provider — that are benefiting from a spike in volume.

Higher interest rates led to a 1.1% seasonally adjusted decline in mortgage applications compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Millennials flooded the mortgage market to refinance on lower rates, but the industry couldn't manage activity as quickly, according to Ellie Mae.

Fannie Mae increased its mortgage origination forecast as lower interest rates, driven by economic uncertainty, will lead to more refinance activity, but other factors will continue to hold back home purchases.

Appraiser and homeowner estimates of house prices are aligning closer after the second straight month of a tightened gap in perceptions of value, according to Quicken Loans.

A decline in refinancings led to a drop in mortgage application volume last week, even though purchase activity continues to rise, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Lenders who employ a technology stack that tracks, collects and analyzes homebuyer behavior will have a distinct advantage as application volume rises.

Mortgage rates ticked up slightly this week with opposing trends in the stock and bond markets fighting for dominance, according to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage application activity was virtually flat from one week earlier, down just 0.1%, although there was a huge gain in Federal Housing Administration refinance volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continue dipping below 4%, June had the most borrowers in position to refinance since late 2016, according to Black Knight.

Mortgage application fraud risk declined for the second consecutive month in May as housing market dynamics shifted towards the buyers, First American said.

Making low-balance loans with poor economies of scale is tough in a market with slim margins, but it could have its rewards.

The refinance share of mortgage applications climbed to the highest level since January 2018 as the average 30-year fixed interest rate continued tumbling, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Blackstone's real estate affiliate and property management firm SITE Centers Corp. acquired the 12 centers across seven states in 2014.