Mortgages

The median credit score for new mortgages and refinancings climbed to 786 during the third quarter, its highest level in more than two decades, according to a report from the New York Fed.

The homeownership rate in Texas just hit an all-time high of 70%, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Homes in some parts of the country spent as little as 20 days on the market, while the U.S. housing supply hit just 1.7 months in October, according to Remax.

Homebuilder confidence jumped in November, hitting another record high as buyers swarmed sales offices to take advantage of the lowest mortgage rates in history.

Rates could be 50 basis points steeper than the MBA’s current projections, which anticipate the 30-year mortgage will average 3.3% next year, up from nearly 3% this year.

The coronavirus pandemic has made for a rough year for a number of industries in Central Texas, but the home construction sector hasn't been one of them.

The number of bidding wars increased for the sixth consecutive month, as Salt Lake City remained the most competitive housing market, according to Redfin.

Lenders also increased jumbo product availability as well as rolling out new SOFR-indexed ARMs.

Facing a slim inventory of existing homes for sale, Denver buyers are snapping up new homes at the fastest pace in the country, a rebound so strong that it has caught local builders off guard.

There have been several extensions of the policy since it was put into place as a way to sustain originations amid a wave of forbearance allocated to borrowers with government-related loans.

The Federal Housing Administration said in its annual actuarial report that the capital reserve ratio on its mutual mortgage insurance fund increased to 6.10% in fiscal year 2020, up from 4.84% a year earlier.

The substantial Series D fundraise fuels speculation on whether Better.com will be the next mortgage company to hop on the IPO trend.

Freddie Mac representatives would not comment on the sudden resignation of Brickman. Interim CEO Michael Hutchins has served as Freddie’s executive vice president of investments and capital markets since January 2015.

The teams include people who previously worked for the Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency as well as HUD.

With the coronavirus cutting employment or wages in 32% of households, the number of potential homebuyers could shrink and cause home price growth to hit its inflection point, analysts say.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Nov. 13.

When new lending volumes start to recede, even with the FOMC’s actions, the shoals of credit and operational risk lurking just beneath the surface will emerge, columnist and analyst Chris Whalen says.

The sector’s leaders are hoping for better in 2021, while not forgetting lessons learned about the market’s risks in 2020.

The third quarter’s higher share of purchase applications, which followed the refinance wave that crested in the second, caused a rise in mortgage application fraud risk, according to CoreLogic.

With an unusually high number of unknowns to factor in, mortgage industry leaders offer a peek at their playbooks for the next year.