Mortgages

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.

Branchless and out-of-state banks are harvesting deposits in Florida and lending them out elsewhere, a situation that leads to serious underinvestment in desperately needed infrastructure and affordable housing.

Borrowers or lenders could use the prediction markets as a hedging tool, although experts noted the lack of trading volume as cause for caution.

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.

President Trump's criticism of large institutional investors prompted inclusion of a sales timeline for build-to-rent properties in the ROAD Act, which in turn pushed NAHB to withdraw its support.

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

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy lost 92,000 jobs in February while unemployment held steady at 4.4%, a development that could spur the Federal Reserve to question whether interest rates are truly in balance.

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.

Many homeowners and first-time buyers are surprised by rising property taxes and insurance, which can sharply increase monthly mortgage costs beyond principal and interest.

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.

The bank announced Tuesday its Blueprint for Housing Opportunity plan, a five-year commitment dedicated to increasing the supply of housing.

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

Research from Andrew Davidson claims a significant number of mortgage borrowers would have a wide variance in credit score if less than three pulls are used.

Some observers say changes to MSR risk-weighting would have limited near-term impact and are unlikely to prompt banks to rush back.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said in a speech Monday morning that the central bank will introduce two capital proposals that she said are aimed at boosting banks' role in the mortgage market.