Rate locks for purchase mortgages declined from April to May. Numerous factors are depressing demand for the loans: higher interest rates, accelerating home prices and inflation.

PE shops have quietly entered the MSR arena as owners, reaping strong gains. How long they might stick around depends on the direction of interest rates.

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to base much of their equitable housing finance efforts on existing pilot programs.

The Community Home Lenders Association has raised concerns that an entity with dominant market position could engage in anti-competitive behavior.

Foreclosure filings last month nearly tripled from a year ago, according to Attom. However, the analytics firm said foreclosure activity is getting back to normal after two years of government intervention that led to historically low levels of default.

Does mortgage fintech Better.com have a future not tied to a SPAC? A sale perhaps? Meanwhile, more lenders are pulling the reduction-in-force lever.

Wells Fargo is in the process of changing where residential loans fit into the bank’s overall business. The company’s CEO cited GSE mortgages as a product that presents risk to the bank.

As loan volumes head south, more potential buyers are slated to come out of the woodwork, but don’t expect any premiums to be paid. We found at least two mid-sized shops that are in the hunt for deals.

For years, the number of subservicing contracts has proliferated. But with loan production falling, there is less of a rush to use outsourcing vendors. Some lenders may even move the function inhouse. (Includes data chart.)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are leaning on special purpose credit programs to offer better access to housing finance for Black and Latino borrowers.