Originations

National real estate company Redfin is looking for a new tenant to take over the Frisco, Texas office space that housed its now-shuttered mortgage division.

As revenues are bottoming out for this group of depositories, some are totally retreating from residential real estate finance, the head of Citizens Financial Group said at a conference.

After 90 years, it is time to examine whether the system is still fulfilling its intended mission to provide liquidity for its members to make mortgages.

But the shift to a purchase market means issues around employment and income verification should concern originators.

Younger mortgage tech software developers reveal new efficiencies they're creating for lenders.

Rate and term refinance activity has practically disappeared compared with 12 months ago, and volume for the less rate sensitive cash-out product is much lower.

Special-purpose credit programs figure prominently in the recently released equitable housing finance plans of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

At least one other nonbank wholesaler will be following suit, with more likely to follow.

The 15-year average crossed the 5% threshold for the first time in over a decade.

A "Big 3" credit bureau is testing a direct data feed into a FICO score, and a top multifamily mortgage lender signed a multiyear contract with a high-profile fintech platform.

The venture-backed fintech also rolled out an option that allows the borrower to "undercollateralize" a property using the USDC stablecoin, pledged at 40% of the value.

Home values dropped for the first time in 31 months between June and July but this is obscured by 14.5% year-over-year appreciation.

Declines in both purchases and refinances contributed to fractionally lower activity, as rising interest rates provided no relief.

Housing's unusually high appreciation rates have now slowed for three months straight, and the number of metropolitan areas that are considered overvalued keeps growing, according to CoreLogic.

The company is acting nearly a month earlier than its competitors did in 2021, the first shot in this year's "loan limits wars."

This product, available throughout all of the company's channels, is characterized by interest-only payments over the first 10 years of the term.

The move comes amid a price war in the industry sparked by United Wholesale Mortgage.

Even though a Compass Point report states the pair have validated the credit scoring model and could implement it in the first quarter of 2023, interested parties would not verify it.

Comments from Federal Reserve officials in Jackson Hole last week have markets bracing for further tightening of monetary policy in the near term.

The transaction to buy Roscoe State Bank is slated to close around Oct. 1, subject to completion of the remaining closing conditions.