The three major credit bureaus plan to exclude two critical pieces of negative information from their reports, which may make it easier for some borrowers to qualify for a mortgage.

A program launched in September to provide grants to mortgage brokers has helped launch 15 new independent mortgage brokerage shops, according to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

Appraisers are most frustrated with the FHA, excessive regulations and insufficient compensation, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of more than 2,000 appraisers.

A new study by LendingTree said that Pittsburgh tops the list of cities for millennial homebuyers with 48.4 percent of all purchase mortgage requests coming from that demographic.

The retail channel remains the predominant source of jumbo originations, according to an Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of survey responses collected by Inside Mortgage Finance. Among the top jumbo lenders, more than four out of five jumbos originated during the fourth quarter of 2016 were through the retail channel. The 81.6 percent retail share of jumbo originations was up from a 79.3 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2015 ... [Includes one data chart]

For the second time in five months, mortgages aggregated by Bank of America will be included in a jumbo mortgage-backed security. In both instances, BofA has sold loans to New Penn Financial, with an affiliate of New Penn issuing the MBS. The $280.38 million Shellpoint Co-Originator Trust 2017-1 is scheduled to close at the end of this month. Mortgages aggregated by BofA account for 98.7 percent of the dollar volume of the MBS, according to presale reports by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and ...

Bank and thrift holdings of first-lien portfolios continued to increase at the end of 2016, according to an Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of bank and thrift call reports. Banks and thrifts held $1.93 trillion in first liens at the end of the year, up 0.4 percent from the third quarter of 2016 and up 3.4 percent from the end of 2015. New additions to the portfolios are generally jumbo mortgages along with some loans eligible for sale to the government- ... [Includes one data chart]

Galton Funding, a new entrant to the jumbo mortgage-backed security market, allows for jumbos with somewhat looser underwriting criteria than typically used in jumbo MBS issued in recent years. The company noted that its programs are aimed at “underserved” borrowers. Moody’s Investors Service said Galton has two prime loan programs: A+ and A. Both allow for more lenient underwriting than other prime jumbo programs and instead align in some instances with ...

More than half of Redwood Trust’s 406 sellers have started offering the company’s “expanded-prime” jumbo product. Company officials said they’re aiming for the Choice product to account for 15.0 percent to 20.0 percent of Redwood’s jumbo volume this year. The firm launched the Choice product in April, allowing mortgages with debt-to-income ratios up to 49.9 percent, loan-to-value ratios up to 90.0 percent or credit scores as low as 661. Choice mortgages tend to have LTV ratios ...

As interest rates increase and refinance business shrinks, some lenders are putting an emphasis on non-qualified mortgages. “CashCall Mortgage’s business in refinance has fallen off; it is now targeting a different section of the marketplace,” Joe Tomkinson, chairman and CEO of Impac Mortgage Holdings, said during the nonbank’s recent earnings call. “Now we are bringing a product that is very real estate friendly to the marketplace, and we will see an increase in that.” Most of ...