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Mortgage credit availability increased in October from the previous month, as mortgage lenders increased their product offerings outside the government market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s exemption from the Qualified Mortgage rule is on borrowed time, but a House bill would allow lenders to use the mortgage giants’ guidelines for documenting borrower income.

The sponsors of the Class A structure, deemed a “trophy asset” by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, are placing $825 million of a $1.2 billion whole loan into a transaction dubbed CPTS 2019-CPT.

The dollar volume of mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs rose nearly 9% in the past fiscal year as interest-rate reduction refinancing loans surged nearly 75%.

Tom Marano, a former Bear Stearns banker, was apparently well compensated following the housing crisis for heading up ResCap and Ditech, both of which went into bankruptcy.

Impac Mortgage Holdings generated $1.4 million in net income during the third quarter in earnings that were favorable compared to a string of losses in the past year.

The two newest private mortgage insurance companies had their best quarters ever for new insurance written, aided by the increase in consumers refinancing with less than 20% home equity.

Zillow Group reported third-quarter revenue that beat estimates as growing sales in its online marketing and home-flipping businesses sent shares higher in late trading.

Though still comparatively strong, consumer confidence in the housing market dropped again in October in response to economic uncertainty and lack of affordability, according to Fannie Mae.

Taylor Morrison Home Corp. has agreed to buy William Lyon Homes in a deal that would combine the two companies' in-house mortgage divisions and make the resulting entity the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder.