Underwriting

Consumer use rates may be low in part because they prefer to stick to one method of submitting information needed to apply for a mortgage.

Since signing those nonbanks in the second quarter, the program has added more than two dozen originators, including Gulf Coast Educators FCU.

Lenders — all of a sudden — are competing for homebuyers' business, a silver lining in what is becoming a more unaffordable housing market.

The quartet of trade groups sent a letter to National Economic Council Direct Brian Deese seeking its support for an action many have been expecting since Pres. Biden's inauguration.

Lenders are eliminating what they consider to be riskier loans from their offerings, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Payments increase 5% in each of the first five years of the mortgage, with the unpaid interest from that period added to the principal.

But the shift to a purchase market means issues around employment and income verification should concern originators.

Rate and term refinance activity has practically disappeared compared with 12 months ago, and volume for the less rate sensitive cash-out product is much lower.

Historically tight underwriting reinforced by regulation and third-party reviews could be buffers, so long as manufacturing standards for production and servicing hold up as residential mortgage companies downsize, according to KBRA.

At least one other nonbank wholesaler will be following suit, with more likely to follow.