Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

The combined cost of mortgages, taxes and insurance now takes up a larger share of household income than it has since the early 1980s, according to an affordability index from John Burns Research & Consulting. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, which made up 10%, according to purchase loan lock data from Optimal Blue.

Debt-to-income ratio 377

Debt-to-income ratio Loans VA loan FHA loan 377

Housing Wire

MARCH 12, 2025

Mortgage applications increased 11.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 7, 2025. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 45.6% of total applications from 43.8% from 16.7%

Fixed-rate mortgage 417

Fixed-rate mortgage Mortgages Loans Marketing 417

Housing Wire

MARCH 5, 2025

Mortgage applications increased 20.4% from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis as buyers pounced on lower rates , according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. ” The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.8%

Fixed-rate mortgage 498

Fixed-rate mortgage VA loan Mortgages Loans 498

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Mortgage applications decreased 17% from one week earlier as mortgage rates surged, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association ’s (MBA) weekly application survey for the week ending October 11, 2024. The refinance index decreased 26% from the previous week and was 111% higher than the same week one year ago.

Mortgages 518

Mortgages Loans As-is Marketing 518

Housing Wire

JANUARY 2, 2025

Rising mortgage rates suppressed applications in the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) final mortgage applications survey index of 2024, released on Thursday. Mortgage demand declined 21.9% Rates for 30-year conforming loans averaged 7.10% on Thursday, up 21 basis points (bps) in the past two weeks.

FHA loan 451

FHA loan Mortgages VA loan Loans 451

Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

Heading into the 2025 housing market, we havent had this many homeowners with mortgage rates over 6% since 2016. of outstanding mortgages, around 8.7 million borrowers, carry a mortgage with an interest rate over 6%. had these cheap mortgages. People with expensive mortgages are more likely to sell their house.

Mortgages 475

Mortgages Finance Equity Loans 475

Housing Wire

JULY 3, 2025

A bank statement loan — also called a Bank Statement Mortgage —lets self-employed borrowers qualify with 12–24 months of bank statements instead of tax returns or W-2s. Bank Statement Loans solve this by measuring real deposit-giving lenders with a clearer picture of sustainable earnings. In 2024, 72.7

Banks 413

Banks Loans Pre-approval Mortgages 413

Housing Wire

MAY 29, 2025

The answer lies in a remote corner of the mortgage industry: subservicing. This business which involves handling mortgage payments, borrower communication and escrow administration on behalf of lenders has undergone consolidation. including affiliated Rushmore Loan Management Services ) and Flagstar s servicing assets.

Mortgages 418

Mortgages Loans Banks Industrial 418

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Provident told broker partners that all loans in the pipeline must be locked by 11:59 p.m. Additionally, all loans currently locked must be funded by the lock expiration date. Relatedly, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have blacklisted a number of condo buildings in South Florida that it won’t back loans for. PST on Oct.

Mortgages 523

Mortgages Marketing Lending Finance 523

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Zillow is moving full speed ahead with an ambitious expansion of its mortgage business, leveraging its housing tech innovations to potentially reshape how modern homebuyers finance homes. billion in purchase mortgage business, not far off a top 50 spot on the mortgage leaderboard. That’s an annualized $3.2

Mortgages 441

Mortgages Loan Officer Loans Agents 441

Housing Wire

JUNE 25, 2025

In mortgage, that playbook often mirrors sports—one side wins, the other loses. A smaller market still full of opportunity According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s May 2025 forecast, total mortgage originations are expected to reach $1.397 trillion by year’s end, a slight downward revision from earlier projections.

Mortgages 403

Mortgages Loan Officer Loans Finance 403

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

Homebuyers faced worsening affordability conditions in January as the median monthly mortgage payment for purchase applicants increased to $2,205, a 3.7% jump from Decembers $2,127, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Meanwhile, the median loan application amount grew from $319,000 in December to $324,800 in January.

Mortgages 370

Mortgages FHA loan Loans As-is 370

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

By at least one measurement, affordability is improving for prospective homebuyers, even as home prices continue to rise and mortgage credit availability remains relatively low. According to data released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the median payment for purchase loan applicants declined by 0.8%

FHA loan 429

FHA loan Mortgages Loans As-is 429

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2024

House of Representatives proposes to relieve Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers of mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) once they reach a certain level of home equity , aligning FHA policies with those of conventional loans. Mortgage insurance exists as protection from foreclosure on low equity loans.

FHA loan 403

FHA loan Mortgages Equity Loans 403

Housing Wire

JUNE 26, 2025

Analysts, economists and mortgage professionals are coining this quarter’s activity as one of the most “calm” periods for mortgage rates in recent memory. It follows nearly three years of borrowers being sidelined by higher rates or “stuck” in loans with historically low rates.

Mortgages 406

Mortgages Equity Loans Loan Officer 406

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2024

Even as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prominent in the mortgage industry, most millennial and Generation Z homebuyers are hesitant to rely solely on a fully automated application process to get a loan, according to a new study. About 58% of respondents still relied on loan officers to guide them through the process.

Mortgages 441

Mortgages Loan Officer Loans Technology 441

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Mortgage tech firm Ocrolus has introduced Inspect, a new solution within its artificial intelligence -driven mortgage document automation technology, which the company said will improve efficiency and scalability in loan origination. Currently, Ocrolus supports more than 95% of mortgage document types.

Inspection 430

Inspection Mortgages Technology Lending 430

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Reverse mortgage industry leader Finance of America (FOA) announced updates on Thursday to the interest rate for HomeSafe Second, its proprietary second-lien reverse mortgage product. The interest rate on the loan has been lowered from 9.99% to 9.49%. The interest rate on the loan has been lowered from 9.99% to 9.49%.

Mortgages 417

Mortgages Equity Loan Officer Loans 417

Housing Wire

APRIL 8, 2025

A strong wave of refinance activity and renewed buyer interest lifted mortgage rate lock volumes in March, according to Optimal Blues latest Market Advantage report. While total mortgage volume remains down 2% compared to the same time last year, purchase lock activity also saw a 21% monthly increase. of total lock volume.

Loans 318

Loans Debt-to-income ratio VA loan FHA loan 318

Housing Wire

JUNE 19, 2025

Technology is accelerating change across the financial services industry, and United Wholesale Mortgage is at the forefront of mortgage innovation. Can you describe these tools and how they will benefit mortgage brokers ? The first one we rolled out was LEO, which stands for Loan Estimate Optimizer. Jason Bressler: Yes!

Lending 449

Lending Loan Officer Mortgages Loans 449

Housing Wire

JUNE 18, 2025

Loan volume through the U.S. That’s according to an analysis of VA loan data released Wednesday by Veterans United Home Loans. The analysis, based on lending data from the first half of fiscal year 2025, found that VA purchase loans are up nearly 10% while refinance activity is up nearly 150%.

VA loan 363

VA loan Loans Lending Mortgages 363

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2025

Independent mortgage banks ( IMBs ) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported an average profit of $443 on each loan they originated in 2024, up from an average loss of $1,056 per loan in 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s annual Mortgage Bankers Performance Report.

Loans 361

Loans Banks Mortgages Industrial 361

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 18, 2024

Mortgage applications declined 0.7% 13, driven by slight decline in refinance activity, according to data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The decline in applications broke a five-week streak of increases in mortgage demand. Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) activity remained steady at 5.3%

VA loan 385

VA loan Mortgages FHA loan Loans 385

Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

As mortgage rates continue to climb past the 7% mark, applications continued to take a step back following the New Year’s Day holiday. from the week prior, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Jan. Demand decreased by 3.7% the previous week.

Mortgages 429

Mortgages Fixed-rate mortgage Loans Sales 429

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Jonathon Haddad, chairman and CEO of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME), is one of the owners of Next Door. The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) shows that Michigan-based brokerage firm Next Door had 61 sponsored loan officers as of Thursday, along with four branches in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio and Texas.

Lending 480

Lending Mortgages Loan Officer Principal 480

Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

Higher-for-longer mortgage rates have claimed their first victim of 2025. Ally Financial announced Wednesday that it would exit the mortgage origination business as part of a broader strategy to pursue higher returns on investments. It had no sponsored loan officers. Bloomberg was the first to report the developments.

Closing 403

Closing Mortgages Loan Officer Development 403

Housing Wire

MARCH 19, 2025

Mortgage applications decreased 6.2% That’s according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 14, 2025. The Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.2% the previous week.

Fixed-rate mortgage 388

Fixed-rate mortgage Mortgages Loans VA loan 388

Housing Wire

APRIL 30, 2025

Mortgage applications decreased 4.2% decrease, but still a sign that mortgage rates and economic volatility are keeping buyers at bay. That’s according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 25, 2025. of total applications. from 13.4%

Fixed-rate mortgage 354

Fixed-rate mortgage Mortgages Loans Closing 354

Housing Wire

MAY 14, 2025

Mortgage applications increased 1.1% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 9, 2025. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 36.4% The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.4%

Fixed-rate mortgage 354

Fixed-rate mortgage Mortgages Loans VA loan 354

Housing Wire

MARCH 4, 2025

The pace of home sales remains near a 30-year low point as home prices and mortgage rates keep potential borrowers in wait-and-see mode. But mortgage rates have posted an unusually large decline in the past week. Mortgage pricing should be down a tad today, he said. This would be a clear headwind to any further rate cuts.

Mortgages 467

Mortgages Sales Finance Closing 467

Housing Wire

JANUARY 3, 2025

Reverse mortgage professionals made more inroads into the forward mortgage industry in 2024. This happened through dedicated conversations, partnerships between reverse and forward mortgage companies, and expanded activities in reverse that stemmed from acquisitions and expansions of existing divisions.

Mortgages 403

Mortgages Lending Loan Officer Loans 403

Housing Wire

JANUARY 17, 2025

Seattle-based WaFd Bank , which has offered home loans for more than 100 years, announced Thursday in an earnings report that it will exit the single-family mortgage lending business. That is bad news for banks like WaFd Bank, because it has made the business of originating mortgages for our portfolio unsustainable.

Lending 388

Lending Banks Mortgages Commercial 388

Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

California -based direct lender AmeriTrust Mortgage announced a new addition to its leadership team. The company welcomed veteran mortgage executive Jett Farrington this week as its new chief operating officer. billion in loans in 2024, according to an Instagram post on the company’s website.

Mortgages 388

Mortgages Loans Industrial Banks 388

Housing Wire

MAY 2, 2025

The reverse mortgage industrys premier trade association held its first event of 2025 this past week. What does get noticed is the number of loans we do the size of the industry. And if reverse mortgages are underutilized, reverse for purchase is so underutilized, its almost criminal. But a lot of it goes unnoticed.

Mortgages 448

Mortgages Industrial Land Equity 448

Housing Wire

JUNE 26, 2025

Cotality released its National Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index for the first quarter of 2025, revealing that fraud risk is up 7.3% This applies to mortgage applications in which elements of a home purchase transaction were not fully represented to the lender. While mortgage delinquencies are currently low across the U.S.,

Mortgages 366

Mortgages Principal Loans Sales 366

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Economists pointed to lower mortgage rates as the reason for slower growth. Despite the Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut in September, rates for 30-year conforming loans have climbed back up to 6.7%, according to HousingWire ’s Mortgage Rates Center. gain year over year, less than the 4.8% gain from July.

Mortgages 475

Mortgages MLS Equity Loans 475

Housing Wire

MARCH 27, 2025

Self-branded “financial fitness” platform FinLocker announced Wednesday that it will cover 100% of the verification costs for mortgage borrowers who use lenders’ FinLocker-powered apps. This is about fundamentally transforming how the mortgage ecosystem works together.” ”

Mortgages 351

Mortgages Loan Officer Technology Loans 351