Freddie Mac’s pilot program could dramatically reduce the frustrations lenders face due to repurchase requests for performing loans. For now, the initiative covers 15 lenders.

Counterintuitively, the bi-merge will increase the number of credit pulls necessary to complete the average mortgage loan application. Consumers will ultimately pay for those extra pulls.

Over the years, warehouse finance has been a good business for Texas Capital, but the pain suffered by its nonbank clients over the past year has affected the bank as well. Relief could come when the Fed starts cutting rates.

The commission structure for real estate agents looks likely to change as the National Association of Realtors and brokerages face charges of price fixing. The move is unlikely to have a major impact on mortgage lenders.

Three-plus weeks into the new year, a handful of large servicing deals are afoot. Arvest Bank is an active seller and Wells Fargo is contemplating its options as well.

An uptick in home sales is helping lenders to have a rosier outlook for 2024, but the mortgage lock-in effect could put a cap on expected growth.

President Biden late last week signed a short-term continuing resolution to keep federal agencies open through March 1.

At the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reformulating their Social Index to make it more attractive to investors while still protecting the privacy of borrowers.

AGNC Investment generated $412 million in net income in the fourth quarter.

Barbara Cooper-Jones, the outgoing senior vice president of Ginnie’s Office of Enterprise Data & Technology Solutions, is widely credited with helping to modernize the agency’s technology platform.