Underwriting

Rising interest rates made mortgage lenders bearish on their short-term outlook for purchase originations and that is affecting their expectations on profits.

Continued price growth in New York drove January's home prices up by 0.1% from December and by 5.4% over the previous year, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

With refinance volume shrinking, some lenders are making up the difference by turning to alternative loan products for borrowers with lower credit scores.

Freddie Mac will soon allow automated underwriting of borrowers who lack scores but have other financial records.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.23% for the week ending March 23, down from last week when it averaged 4.3%.

Mortgage applications decreased 2.7% from one week earlier after the Fed announced a rate hike, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Loans originated in the fourth quarter of 2016 carried less credit risk, according to the latest Housing Credit Index from CoreLogic.

Experian and Finicity have released a product that aims to speed up decisions on mortgage applications, using financial data aggregation technology.

Shellpoint is marketing another offering of private-label mortgage bonds backed primarily by loans it acquired rather than loans originated by its own New Penn subsidiary.

U.S. bank regulators have tentatively agreed to ease an appraisal requirement that could help commercial real estate borrowers.