Underwriting

Record lending drove a top-line gain on the year but one-time costs from reverse mortgage servicing sales and negative fair value changes hurt the bottom line.

However, for the second quarter, increased home purchase mortgage activity contributed to an industry-wide 11% increase in agency securitizations, BTIG said.

This data release means another milestone for the use of updated credit score models than the current FICO Classic has been met by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The fee hike, which also raises the cost of assumptions, is part of the House pay-as-you-go rules to support a proposed expansion of veterans benefits.

While the nationwide purchase average declined nearly 3% in 2025, these costs rose in 23 of 50 states and the District of Columbia, a study from LodeStar said.

There's broad support for the effort to reduce costs and processes, but the Appraisal Institute warns about reducing property valuation quality control checks.

Approximately 54% of homeowners looked to a second lien product to access their home's stored value in the first quarter due to the "lock-in effect."

Homebuyers applying for Federal Housing Administration loans in community property states are facing hurdles that current market conditions have heightened.

Higher utilization and aggregate excess payments point to pressure, according to TransUnion. Debt-to-income averages remain below traditional mortgage caps.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is recommending the option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers with strong credit with a tri-merge for others. Here's why.

Questions about the single-report option and whether VantageScore should be introduced before FICO 10T arose during a hearing on broader legislative proposals.

The latest government-sponsored enterprise changes include a more flexible sampling and a longer maximum term for some manufactured housing loans, respectively.

Affordability improved in February as rates dipped below 6%, but March's climb to 6.43% signals tougher months ahead. Lenders should act now on pockets of opportunity before rising rates erode recent gains.

Trump's mortgage deregulation order drew cautious praise from lenders but alarm from consumer groups, who warn it could recreate pre-2008 financial crisis conditions.

Nonagency underwriting is expanding but the public sector is a different story due to recent performance issues, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

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.

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

The announcement drove a large increase in Better's stock price, but UWM, Rocket and Pennymac all saw any gains earlier in the day more than dissipate.