Underwriting

Mortgage application activity increased 1.4% from one week earlier despite rising interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Trump administration's Justice Department was expected to be less aggressive in its pursuit of False Claims Act cases against the mortgage industry. Instead, its focus has shifted to Federal Housing Administration-insured reverse mortgages.

Defects and misrepresentations on mortgage applications rose 2.5% in May, reaching levels last seen in 2015, according to the First American Loan Defect Index

Mortgage application activity fell by 6.2% this week, driven by a 9% decrease in refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage lender credit standards eased during the second quarter as purchase volume was lower than expected and competition increased, according to the Fannie Mae Lender Sentiment Survey.

Mortgage rates remained at their 2017 lows as ongoing economic uncertainty is affecting loan pricing, according to Freddie Mac.

The purchase mortgage share increased 15 percentage points in the first five months of 2017 to 68% of all closed loans in May, according to Ellie Mae.

Mortgage application activity increased slightly from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Traditional partnerships with lenders have been eroded by compliance strains and new incentives to control more of the homebuying transaction.

Defaults on first-lien mortgages fell 5 basis points in May from the previous month, dropping to their lowest level in a year, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Index.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said a long period of low interest rates may have contributed to "high and rising" home prices in several countries, cautioning against forgetting the lessons of the 2007-09 housing crisis.

The young adult homeownership rate should increase by 1.5 percentage points over the next two decades as education attainment among racial and ethnic minorities continues to rise.

With refinancing coming in a little stronger than expected and underwriting loosening, Fannie Mae has slightly increased its forecast for total volume in 2017.

Mortgage rates increased for the first time in over a month, but the increase might be short-lived, according to Freddie Mac.

The move follows mounting criticism that many homeowners using property assessments to finance energy efficiency upgrades can neither understand, nor afford, the terms of deals.

Wintrust Mortgage has committed to funding $40 million in below-market fixed interest-rate loans in the Chicago area through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity.