Mortgages

The middle of a housing market downturn is no time to experiment with untested underwriting tools.

These standout performers all reported a three-year return on average equity above 14%. Two of them topped 20%.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency soon will commence a review of the Federal Home Loan Bank System. For the process to be successful, the actual users of the system and the institutions that will be the most impacted by any changes to its mission, mandate or role need to add their voice to the conversation.

Leading institutions with assets between $10 billion and $50 billion say growth strategies outside their traditional geographic bounds drove strong returns in 2021 and have steeled them for this year's challenges.

BayFirst Financial Corp. said it initiated the process of shuttering its out-of-state network of residential mortgage loan production offices.

Banks including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have pulled back on financing for offices and other commercial real estate following a record burst of lending in the first half of this year. 

The Cincinnati bank's new division will lend to nonbanks that make or bundle together residential mortgage loans, whose businesses have slowed as higher interest rates lower appetite for refinancing. The warehouse sector has seen "fierce competition" among banks lately, one analyst wrote.

A piece of legislation cleared the House this week that would allow for so-called "desktop appraisals" on properties financed by government-backed veteran loans.

The class-action lawsuit was brought on behalf of mortgage borrowers who were allegedly placed into forbearance during the early days of the pandemic without their consent.