Originations

Lenders are seeking to capture homeowner interest amid higher living costs, but home values have collectively fallen from their record-high last summer.

The cut reverts the mortgage insurance requirement to pre-financial crisis levels.

Volumes fell 18% compared to the previous week, while refinance activity also pulled back.

Despite a likely recession, researchers at the government-sponsored enterprise revised volume forecasts upward for both 2023 and 2024, while originators also entered the year expecting their business to improve.

As one of the latest examples of consolidation in the industry, the acquisition is notable in that it aims to preserve the availability of lending resources for both parent companies' customers.

Community Financial Credit Union is partnering with the hosts of "Bargain Block" to renovate low-cost homes and help prospective buyers qualify for their first mortgage.

But the company expects positive margins in the first quarter from Bay Equity Home Loans and increased cross-sell capture from real estate agents.

Single-family property sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 725,000 units last month, a 13.1% increase from December.

The lender paid workers in commissions, and failed to provide a minimum wage over pay periods in which no loans were originated, counsel alleges.

Despite slowing originations, the shift to a purchase-oriented market contributed to growth, while outstanding HELOC amounts also surged to its largest in over a decade, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found.

Investors are concerned that the Fed could raise rates 50 basis points at its next meeting and are pricing that risk into the 10-year Treasury.

Many players in the segment appear to be holding back on plans amid concerns about falling prices and rents, according to Redfin.

All six companies were profitable in the fourth quarter and the full year, but had far less new volume than in 2021.

Average purchase sizes have increased each week this year, likely signaling greater buyer activity occurring toward the higher end of the market.

The increase in sentiment to a five-month high was fueled by more optimism about sales, the outlook and a pickup in prospective-buyer traffic.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's two new proposed rules make sense for most non-banks but applying them to independent mortgage banks is redundant, writes the head of the Community Home Lenders of America.

Weaker economic conditions, rising interest rates and expected changes in investment returns drove the reduced expectations, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Major secondary market investors recently allowing for the use of an attorney opinion letter (AOL) as an alternative to traditional title insurance has led to the emergence of both instigators and imitators, writes the CEO of Voxtur.

In cities where the demographic made a majority of purchases, homebuyers with average credit scores in the mid-700s submitted hefty down payments.

But with rates turning back up this past week, activity could fall in February, Black Knight Optimal Blue said.