Mortgages

Decreased homeowner equity corresponds to recent declining prices reported by leading housing researchers, but tappable amounts still sit near record highs.

Forbearance or refinancing may help some, workarounds can keep many mainstream loans moving and one type of uncertainty does have an upside for rates.

While the Federal Open Market Committee has yet to meet this month, investor pricing of longer-term bonds helped mortgages by 11 basis points, Wallethub said.

While purchase volume is up 20% from last year, it was 5% lower than one week ago, although a 4% increase in refinance activity helped pick up the slack.

Top industry minds emphasized they're still bullish on the technology and said humans will still provide irreplaceable traits like empathy and trust.

The company's servicing valuations fell but by less than in previous quarters. Lower rates both aided production and created recapture opportunities.

Kin, a direct-to-consumer insurance provider, has started a mortgage broker in Florida which also takes loan applications through a call center or online.

The NRMLA/Riskspan Reverse Mortgage Market Index set a new high of 502.42, with the dollar amount of home equity for those 62 or over reaching $14.4 trillion.

Stenger joins the Chicago-based lender after more than a decade at Movement Mortgage and will oversee its retail platform, including new tech enhancements.

The lender, which reported over $200 million in home equity line of credit volume in the recent quarter, suggests the business can deliver massive scale.