Underwriting

More than half of real estate agents are planning to extend their sales contracts to provide more time for the closing process due to the coming implementation of new mortgage disclosures.

Fraud risk has diminished as a result of widespread changes that lenders have made to their origination practices, according to Fitch Ratings.

A new battle is brewing between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the government-sponsored enterprises set out to boost their purchases of low down payment loans.

Credit Suisse is taking advantage of the relative calm in credit markets Thursday to launch its second residential mortgage securitization of the year.

In the world of property valuations, there's no such thing as the "perfect" comparable sale. From design and architecture styles to energy efficiency, here's a look at 10 home features most frequently adjusted in appraisals.

Credit union loan balances grew at an 11% annualized pace in June, while loan delinquency rates fell, according to the latest Credit Union Trends Report from CUNA Mutual Group.

The Federal Housing Administration has resolved a long-standing conflict with municipalities and private companies that back "green energy" loans that is expected to benefit banks and other mortgage lenders. The next question is whether the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages will do the same.

Fannie Mae is revamping its affordable mortgage program to make it easier for low- and moderate-income families to qualify for low-down-payment loans.

Loans to first-time homeowners and others with low credit scores are a big part of the Federal Housing Administration's growth in purchase mortgages since the agency cut premiums.

Homebuyers may be missing out on a wide range of programs that can help them afford their purchases — programs their agents either don't know about or don't want to bother with.

Conforming mortgage rates remained steady despite many indications that the Federal Reserve is considering bumping up short-term interest rates, according Freddie Mac.

Consumer credit default rates remained stable during the month of July, according to credit bureau Experian.

Home sales in July rose 11.3% from a year earlier, as lenders appear to be loosening access to credit, according to Re/Max.

CoreLogic has launched a new intelligence tool aimed at improving marketing segmentation and risk detection.

The share of refinancing activity as part of the origination market fell in July, according to the Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report.

Mortgage application volume grew 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with the week prior, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's decisions to make their automated underwriting systems free to use will feed more data to the GSEs, but do little to better serve lenders and borrowers.

The Federal Housing Administration's Neighborhood Watch website is back online after crashing about three weeks ago.

By effectively using technology to gather and verify big data, lenders can underwrite with greater precision, improve loan-level decision making and maximize the integrity of their mortgage portfolios.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a regulatory mandate to shrink. But that's easier said than done, given the GSEs' outsized presence in the mortgage industry, as their latest quarterly results show.