Underwriting

Increased competition among non-qualified mortgage lenders leading to lower starting interest rates for borrowers should result in fewer of these loans prepaying within one year of origination, said Standard & Poor's.

Fannie Mae will add an appraisal waiver option for mortgages in regions that its Duty to Serve program designates as high-needs rural areas, but only if home inspections are completed instead.

Mortgage rates increased 5 basis points this week, up for the fourth week in a row with momentum building for further hikes, according to Freddie Mac.

Bill Emerson, the vice chairman of Quicken Loans, said mortgage lenders need to give time to consider innovation and not be deterred by naysayers.

Blend, a provider of mortgage point of sale systems, is offering a new product that uses machine learning to streamline loan closings and analyze loan data quality.

Accessing a mortgage applicants' data from a direct source goes a long ways toward shortening the origination process, according to 96% of mortgage underwriters responding to a recent CoreLogic survey.

A decade after the credit crisis, investors are returning to where it all began. The mortgage sector, blamed in large part for the near-collapse of the global financial system, is now seen by many as a high-quality market forged by fire.

New Penn Financial has launched a condo loan program that features more flexible property restrictions than what's allowed under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines.

Mortgage rates jumped 6 basis points over the past week, which led to the largest year-over-year gain in over four years, according to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage credit accessibility dropped for the first time in four months as jumbo loan products took a step back, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage rates inched higher for the second straight week and further increases are likely in the near term, according to Freddie Mac.

Nearly half of July's millennial homebuyers were single, a sign that they are not waiting for certain milestones like marriage before deciding to become homeowners, according to Ellie Mae.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill to revise the state's Residential Mortgage Lending Act to facilitate transitional licensing for loan officers and to streamline the law's provisions for borrower fees.

Future reductions in loan application defect risk are likely because of mortgage lenders' fintech investments, even as the purchase origination share grows, said First American Financial.

Mortgage rates took small steps up after hitting a four-month low, but continued hovering around the same range they have all summer, according to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates decreased for the third straight week and reached their lowest level since mid-April, according to Freddie Mac.

July's year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts for 44% of the nation's metro areas is a result of looser underwriting standards and a sign of future growth in defaults, said Attom Data Solutions.

New investor appetite for mortgages over $1 million is motivating more nonbank lenders to offer super jumbo loans, often with weaker credit terms than traditional banks.

Average mortgage rates fell, including the largest week-over-week drop of the past 12 months, but homebuyer demand stays mum, according to Freddie Mac.

The percentage of low down payment loans using private mortgage insurance continues to grow, and should continue as more first-time homebuyers get conforming loans, according to Keefe Bruyette & Woods.