Owning mortgage servicing rights proved to be a great counter-hedge to an ugly origination market in the first quarter. At least two nonbanks benefited: Mr. Cooper and New Residential Investment.

Delinquency rates declined across the board at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae in the first quarter of 2022. The only category of loans to report higher defaults was FHA loans 120 days past due. (Includes data chart.)

Loans that received an Automated Collateral Evaluation waiver had 9% fewer defaults than similar loans that didn’t, according to Freddie economists.

Officials from Wells Fargo, Amazon and Dartmouth Health said it’s hard for companies to hire and retain employees amid the housing supply crisis. They’re taking various steps to increase homeownership.

The metaverse financing space is heating up, with major platforms handling hundreds of millions of dollars in “land” transactions last year. Whether mortgage companies should stick a toe in the water is an open question with plenty of risks and potential rewards.

CRA proposal would expand assessment areas for large banks; ICE to acquire Black Knight; Ishbia vows no layoffs at United Wholesale Mortgage; UWM competing on price; MBA concerned about kleptocrat legislation; Fairway unit offering NFTs of individual homes.

What are conventional and government production networks worth these days? Probably not much...

While most industries are dying for workers, mortgage lenders have the opposite problem...

Fannie Mae’s first-quarter earnings declined due to higher loan loss provisions, while Freddie Mac posted higher profits on the back of credit-related income. (Includes data chart.)

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin letting agency MBS run off on June 1, but has no plans to actually sell securities.