Mortgages

The uptick marks only the third increase in consecutive weeks since reaching a peak in May, according to Black Knight.

This is the third nonbank mortgage company offering in a row to decrease its size, but the reductions were more severe than the others.

Though the pandemic recession has driven up the delinquency rate on Federal Housing Administration loans, the president's appointees are widely expected to reduce mortgage insurance premiums by at least 25 basis points to make home loans less expensive.

U.S. new-home sales rose in December for the first time in five months, capping the best year since 2006 and signaling that record-low mortgage rates continue to drive demand for a sector that’s been a bright spot in the economy.

As home prices surged in 2020 due to shrinking inventory and raging demand, sellers received the highest returns on investment since at least 2005, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Investors were also reacting to the inauguration of Joe Biden and uncertainty over additional fiscal relief, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater said.

The Long Island resort towns saw 803 completed deals in the fourth quarter, the most for any three-month period in data going back to early 2005.

The yet-to-be-named platform is acquiring the assets and liabilities of Barings Multifamily Capital LLC, pending approvals from federal government-sponsored enterprises.

The company is exploring a range of options to diversify its balance sheet, but new CEO Thomas Cangemi says the best plan of attack is to merge with or acquire another institution.

While financing costs are still low enough to offset sticker-shock from rising home prices, a slight increase in the average 30-year conforming rate weighed on borrowers, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

AlphaFlow, an asset manager that buys real estate loans from lenders, sold the first of what it expects to be a series of securities linked to mortgages often used by house flippers.

The mortgage lender will promote its brand, products and services through MLB-related television or radio ads, in addition to digital outlets.

The amount nearly doubles the capital the mortgage fintech has raised since 2012.

With Americans gobbling up homes in the suburbs, a scarce inventory of properties to purchase has met surging demand to drive up prices.

Amerant Mortgage includes several former bankers from City National Bank of Florida in Miami.

Investor concerns about a 25 basis point reduction taking business from private insurers might be overblown, but a 50 bp cut could affect an additional 10%-15% of the low down payment market, KBW said.

The subsidiary of New Residential Investment produced nearly $400 million in non-QM volume in the first quarter of 2020 before putting a hold on the product offering in March.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council could determine that a broad range of mortgage companies should be subject to “heightened prudential standards,” said Andrew Olmem, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former senior economic adviser to the White House.

The former No. 2 at Countrywide had been battling brain cancer prior to passing away from the coronavirus.

If new housing policy initiatives are not adopted by Congress, the Biden Administration may seek to push the GSEs into receivership, which would damage the conventional market, columnist and analyst Chris Whalen says.