Underwriting

Total lock volume increased 2% from November and finished 30% higher than last December, according to Optimal Blue's latest Market Advantage report.

Nearly half of all credit card users carry a balance, according to Academy Bank. Higher non-mortgage debt levels can affect home loan underwriting.

With ongoing affordability issues, the Federal Housing Administration program will keep taking low down payment market share from the private mortgage insurers.

Loanlogics rolled out the LoanBeam NQM income analyzer in October and has four users for the non-qualified mortgage underwriting technology, including Pennymac.

The deal comes as technology experts see likely 2026 artificial intelligence breakthroughs in mortgage to come through improved underwriting.

Marshall is tasked with bringing Sagent's Dara servicing platform implementation up to scale, replacing Geno Paluso, who is vice chairman during the transition.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago will be offering more funding and higher per-member limits as part of its 2026 Community Advance program.

Fitch Ratings' outlooks for mortgage and title insurers this year are neutral, as housing deals with affordability challenges and a likely economic downturn.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is examining the data to see if the high ratio warrants a new push for a premium cut but said rising arrears call for caution.

This year it took a homebuyer seven years to save for a typical down payment on a house, compared with 12, according to Realtor.com.

Some action items could make a big difference for both mortgage lenders and consumers, but the Trump Administration is not yet focused on these concerns.

National Mortgage News takes a look back at some of the major or unique transactions which went on, or in some cases didn't happen, in the past 12 months.

Mortgage lenders test crypto-backed mortgages as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac review digital assets in underwriting, weighing risk, non-QM loans and access for nontraditional homebuyers.

For 2026, the mortgage industry operating environment will improve, while nonbank financial metrics should be within Fitch's rating criteria sensitivities.

Approximately 70% of home purchasers do not get more than one quote in the mortgage process, doing so could reduce their rate by 50 basis points, Zillow said.

November rate locks fell seasonally but hit their strongest level since 2021, led by refis, while lenders shifted more loans to the GSE cash window.

An influx of adjustable-rate and cash-out refinance mortgage programs during the month pushed the Mortgage Credit Availability Index 0.7% higher in November.

New rules means sellers and servicers will need to have plans demonstrating proper oversight of their artificial intelligence and machine learning practices.

Bank statement loans, a home equity credit card and a blockchain investment product are among the new offerings designed to reach an $11 trillion market.

But just three of the 150 most populous ZIP codes have a mortgage debt-to-income ratio below the conforming threshold of 28%, Movingplace found.