Underwriting

A fintech startup called Point is allowing consumers sell a piece of their home equity to investors, rather than borrowing against the value of their houses.

Mortgage rates moved slightly lower for the week, helping to spur ongoing refinance activity, according to Freddie Mac.

First American Financial Services has reached an agreement to acquire RedVision Systems, one of the largest independent providers of title and property research nationwide.

Purchase loans experienced a 52% seasonal increase on a quarterly basis during the second quarter, reaching the highest level both in terms of volume and dollar amount since 2007, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Efforts to expand diversity and inclusion are critical to any industry, but they're becoming especially important in mortgage finance, where the customer base is evolving and more millennial and multicultural consumers are ready to buy homes.

Depositories still dominate home lending, but nondepositories' market share is the highest it has been in at least two decades. Here's why.

So long as government-backed entities are guaranteeing 90% of originations, competition that could result in greater mortgage options for borrowers is being stifled. But a return of private capital to the market, possibly through securitization, could fix that.

Over the next 40 years, the rate of homeownership is likely to continue to decline further as changes in demographic trends, increased regulation and stagnant incomes make that dream harder to achieve.

If the past 40 years has revealed anything about the mortgage industry, it's that change is constant, and inevitable. From the future of Fannie and Freddie to the role technology will play in underwriting, here's a look at 10 bold predictions that will shake up the mortgage industry.

The slow start to Fifth Third's 3%-down mortgage illustrates some of the logistical challenges with such programs, which are on the rise across the industry.

Mortgage rates moved slightly higher in reaction to Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen's Aug. 26 speech, but still remain near their all-time record lows, according to Freddie Mac.

Regulatory infighting over bond loans offered by down payment assistance programs has the potential to curtail lending to first-time buyers and do real damage to homeownership.

The mortgage application forms from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should make for stronger loans, according to an analyst at Moody's Investors Service.

U.S. acquisitions have buoyed profits at Canada’s biggest banks, whose domestic economy is sluggish and possibly on the verge of a housing crisis. The banks are expected to pursue more M&A in the U.S. if that problem persists.

Equifax and TransUnion have stopped selling traditional credit reports, forcing lenders to buy their new, more expensive "trended" data reports that mortgage investors aren't using yet.

Mortgage rates held steady from the previous week, while still remaining near their all-time record lows, according to Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Administration should look to private mortgage insurance companies as a model for how to standardize the claim review process.

The first commercial mortgage-backed security to comply with "skin in the game" requirements was extremely well received. Market participants credit the way the large banks sponsoring the deal retained the risk – a strategy unavailable to nonbank lenders.

Mortgage rates edged downward this week as the market anticipated Wednesday's release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's July meeting, Freddie Mac reported.

A monthly gain in refinance activity coupled with a decrease in rates last month, according to data from Ellie Mae. However, loan turnaround times as a whole remained static.