Originations

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley repeated his long-standing criticism of Fair Isaac Corp. in a letter noting the detrimental impact of its prices on home buyers.

There were an estimated 630,000, or 46.3%, more home sellers than buyers in the United States in February, according to a Redfin report.

For the second week in a row, the 30-year fixed increased by 11 basis points, Freddie Mac found, a result of reaction to oil price hikes from the Iran conflict.

Two top housing platforms disagree on the best week to list in 2026, but both agree a rare window for sellers is opening this spring.

President Trump's executive order on mortgage credit calls on federal agencies to ease the path for eNotes, digital mortgages and remote notary, something lenders have been wrestling with for years.

The deregulatory executive order, which pairs with another targeting small players' home loan rules, impacts the FHFA, HUD and other agencies.

The conflict pushed oil price futures above $100 a barrel for a short time earlier this week, which affected bond investors and the 10-year Treasury yield.

Agency MBS investors have had limited information about primary loans coexisting with home equity products, and may want to get more now, according to Experian.

A near-record share of homeowners unable to sell their properties are renting them out instead, with "accidental landlords" accounting for 2.3% of listed rental stock in October, per Zillow data.

Several mortgage wholesale and partnership channel announcements came out coincidentally following loanDepot's return to the broker channel.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below 6% at the end of last month for the first time since 2022, bringing purchase borrowers back to the market.

The company dropped the broker channel just months after Frank Martell became CEO; now that Anthony Hsieh is running things again, LoanDepot brought it back.

An estimated 565,000 first-lien refinances closed in the fourth quarter, up 50% from a year prior and the most since the second quarter of 2022, ICE found.

Active listings grew 7.9% year over year in February, but just 0.2% month over month, reaching more than 914,000 homes on the market, according to Realtor.com.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization is nearing completion on the first of a three-phase Veterans Affairs loan guarantee modernization effort.

While this only shows a 2-basis-point rise in the 30-year fixed since last week, the Lender Price product and pricing engine data is 30 basis points higher.

Though changes to bank capital rules previewed by Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman in February are being viewed as welcome, experts say other more significant hurdles — not all of them regulatory — are keeping banks on the sidelines of mortgage servicing and lending.

Willamette Valley Bank cited consumer shifts to nonbanks and stubborn interest rates behind the decision, joining a line of institutions to exit since 2025.

For the first time since early September 2022, the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey has the 30-year below 6%, but the 15-year gained this week.

In a letter to regulators, the consortium of organizations recommended regulatory changes affecting a range of rules from risk weights to warehouse financing.