Mortgages

Just two weeks after releasing its planned schedule for buybacks this quarter, the Treasury Department on Wednesday said it's "increasing, by at least double, the size of liquidity support buyback operations" for securities dated from the 10-year to the 30-year sector. 

After losing money on production in most quarters between 2022 and 2024, independent mortgage bankers have achieved five consecutive quarters in the black.

So far, annual home lending growth is on track to slow, but not stop, with some positive developments surfacing amid broader challenges.

In a contentious hearing in the House Financial Services Committee, congressional Democrats evinced serious skepticism about the Federal Home Loan Bank System. That could bode ill for the Home Loan banks should control of the House flip in November.

United Bank and Five Points Bank, both ranked among the top-performing banks by Capital Performance Group, said they have stayed in the mortgage business because they see it as a way to build strong relationships in the communities they serve.

The Federal Home Loan Bank System is a vital part of the country's housing market, but over the years, misunderstandings and misleading statistics have muddied the picture when it comes to assessing their importance.

A 10-state coalition is asking a federal court to put a halt to the OCC's rules which pre-empt laws on banks paying interest on mortgage escrow deposits.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says the three-day post-close period is redundant, but consumer groups called it vital for borrowers and required by law.

For the past three quarters, more bank branches have opened than closed. It's a trend, though a slight one.

The new record arrives after five months of annual home-price growth, which surged to its highest in more than a year, according to ICE Mortgage Technology.

The average down payment across the list was 17.1%, well above 13.1% nationally, and the median credit score was 766, compared with 747 countrywide.

Gateway Bank, which has narrowed its losses under new CEO Mukhtar Ali, hired a team of residential-construction lenders to speed its return to profitability.

A proposal issued last week by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. could lead banks to limit grants they give to nonprofits in exchange for Community Reinvestment Act credit.

The 3 basis point gain in the 30-year fixed comes as investors are now pricing in the likelihood of a Federal Reserve short-term rate hike in September.

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.

The bill, which is meant to free up housing supply locked in by high mortgage rates, does not include assumable mortgages which stick with the property.

Opponents argued that Provident Bank, which bought Lakeland in 2024, had yet to disburse millions of dollars remaining on a mortgage subsidy fund.

The competitive and controversial leader, who will stay on the board, oversaw rapid growth but also a massive downsizing, and a notorious mass firing over Zoom.

The deal bolsters Zions' ability to serve multifamily customers and creates a natural extension of its affordable housing lending program, management said.

The investment is expected to bring a 40% increase to Chase Home Lending's mortgage capacity, with the addition of 850 new advisors, the company said.