Mortgages

With $258 million coming from the Homeowner Assistance Fund, the state introduces its plan as federal restrictions prohibiting foreclosures come to an end.

The new leader, who officially joined the government mortgage-bond insurer on Jan. 3, is the first Senate-confirmed holder of the post in close to five years.

Mortgage performance in November was improving, coming close to crossing a key threshold for pandemic-era recovery, but Omicron raises questions about whether that trend will continue.

But low mortgage rates and higher wages are allowing borrowers to meet conforming loan underwriting terms — at least for now.

The 30-year average climbed six basis points after falling to a monthly low a week earlier.

Borrowers accepting federal loan modifications saw payments on principal and interest reduced between 27% and 33%, according to estimates by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

When finalized, the sections to the Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 will replace some 150 Mortgage Letters issued over the years.

About 40% of likely purchasers are delaying or cancelling their activity, a Redfin survey found.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales decreased 2.2% from a month earlier to 122.4, according to data released Wednesday.

The past year was noteworthy for many reasons — and within the mortgage industry, some might even argue that 2021 was even more momentous than the 12 months preceding it. What all can agree on, though, is that the ongoing pandemic continued to reshape the lending landscape. As 2022 approaches, we look back on a few of this year’s running themes.

The current patchwork approach to financing the retrofitting of low-income apartment buildings is one of the key issues that should be addressed, the company’s report found.

A measure of home prices in 20 U.S. cities jumped 18.4%, down from 19.1% in September, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index showed Tuesday.

The lender’s controversial leader Vishal Garg will remain on break but retain his post after disparaging laid-off employees, Aurora Acquisition Corp. confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The days of sub-3 percent mortgage rates will end next year as the Federal Reserve tries to combat inflation, making it more expensive to buy a home but only slightly cooling Maine's hot real estate market, experts say.

In October, those factors outweighed a smaller rise in annual wage growth, and the gap will keep widening, according to a new First American Real House Price Index report.

The state has distinct loss mitigation policies, and particularly complex rules for foreclosures scheduled to fully restart when its ban ends — and other states could write similar rules.

Average per-loan charges last year were little changed despite the addition of a new temporary fee for refinancing. Those for loan-to-value ratios above 80%, home-purchase financing and adjustable-rate mortgages only rose slightly.

Lenders took advantage of the exceptional business environment to make deals throughout the last 12 months.

But the number remaining was still more than twice as high as pre-pandemic, according to Black Knight.