Mortgages

The mortgage subsidiary of Hilltop Holdings posted another quarterly loss and volume slipped, but management also sees signs of optimism.

Banks and other private lenders could help ease the liquidity crisis facing some companies that service Ginnie Mae mortgages, but are currently prevented from doing so by the agency's rules. A simple fix would benefit everyone involved.

In a Senate hearing, Director Sandra Thompson said a raise to the required income threshold provided to affordable housing was on the table, while housing regulators also faced questions related to property insurance hikes and title insurance waivers.

The nonpayment rate for non-qualified mortgages is up 21 basis points from February and 134 basis points from March 2023, Morningstar DBRS said.

The government mortgage-bond guarantor will require additional information on foreclosure prevention actions, and retire some forbearance reporting.

But views are split, at least in the near-term on whether rising mortgage rates are holding back the Spring home purchase season.

Contract closings decreased 4.3% from a month earlier to a 4.19 million annualized rate, according to National Association of Realtors data released Thursday.

The top five producers had an average dollar volume of FHA loans of more than $50 million in 2023.

Ohio-based Liberty Home Mortgage joins several companies who started using a more modernized FICO credit score for nonconforming mortgage originations recently.

The plan that the Federal Housing Finance Agency floated calls for Freddie Mac to actively invest in some new closed-end seconds as cash-out refinancing subsides.

The push comes amid what one expert highlighted as lax funding efforts for two Department of Housing and Urban Development grant programs.

Conventional lending drove volumes higher, particularly in the purchase market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Greater availability of data can make it more attractive to buy MBS with loans to underserved borrowers, translating into lower interest rates for those mortgages.

While newly constructed home mortgage applications rose both on a monthly and annual basis, the gains were slower than typical.

Residential starts decreased 14.7% in March to a 1.32 million annualized rate, the lowest since August, government data showed Tuesday.

The Supreme Court ruling on tax foreclosures could improve servicer recoveries but it's also giving some jurisdictions pause as they look at how to interpret it.

The former Realtor says a lack of teamwork between real estate agents and lenders in today's climate could compromise buyers and sellers.

A pair of metrics that examine competition in the marketplace went in different directions in March, Zillow found.