Underwriting

Nonagency underwriting is expanding but the public sector is a different story due to recent performance issues, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Several mortgage wholesale and partnership channel announcements came out coincidentally following loanDepot's return to the broker channel.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below 6% at the end of last month for the first time since 2022, bringing purchase borrowers back to the market.

The company dropped the broker channel just months after Frank Martell became CEO; now that Anthony Hsieh is running things again, LoanDepot brought it back.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization is nearing completion on the first of a three-phase Veterans Affairs loan guarantee modernization effort.

The announcement drove a large increase in Better's stock price, but UWM, Rocket and Pennymac all saw any gains earlier in the day more than dissipate.

Even with the increase in business, Fidelity National Financial reported a net loss for the period, a result of the stock distribution for its life unit.

While originators are not the primary focus of the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act going into effect on March 5, the way they do business is going to change.

For five of the six private mortgage insurers, the surge of originations during the fourth quarter led to more new business versus the prior three months.

Research from Andrew Davidson claims a significant number of mortgage borrowers would have a wide variance in credit score if less than three pulls are used.

Falling rates spurred a refi surge that pushed defect rates to 1.79% in Q3, driven by income and compliance documentation gaps as lenders ran lean, per Aces Quality Management.

Some observers say changes to MSR risk-weighting would have limited near-term impact and are unlikely to prompt banks to rush back.

The mortgage broker trade group put out a white paper calling for lowering transaction costs, increasing housing supply and reducing regulatory barriers.

More than half of respondents in a National Mortgage News survey predict AI-backed underwriting will fundamentally change mortgage processes in 2026.

As mortgage rates sank to near 6% in January, consumers looked to do rate-and-term refinances, while originators offered more ARMs and cash-out loans.

Primelending produced a pretax loss of $5.2 million in the fourth quarter, significantly lower than the loss of $15.9 million in the same period a year earlier.

Overall, three-quarters of those in a National Mortgage News survey believe loan production will increase during 2026, but just 15% felt strongly about it.

On Jan. 26, use of the new Uniform Residential Appraisal Report shifts from limited production to the optional phase, giving lenders 10 months to get ready.

Tri-merge mandates prop up a credit bureau/FICO oligopoly, raising mortgage costs with little benefit despite risk concerns, the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors argues.

The President is promising big announcements on housing affordability issues in Switzerland, but will it include ending the GSE conservatorships?