The credit window for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family mortgages opened a little wider during the third quarter of 2018 as competition intensified in the primary market. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities issued by the government-sponsored enterprises during the third quarter revealed modest increases in the shares of purchase mortgages with low credit scores, although trends in loan-to-value ratios were mixed ... [Includes two data charts]
With Democrats recapturing control of the House of Representatives this week, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, expected to chair the House Financial Services Committee, the odds of housing-finance reform becoming a reality in 2019 didn’t improve all that much. In short, legislative reform remains a long shot. At least that’s the consensus of industry lobbyists and analysts interviewed this week by Inside Mortgage Trends. “Could Waters get something done?” asked ...
Cash-out refinancing is on the rise again, driven by rising interest rates and strong home-price appreciation, but there is no cause for alarm, according to the Urban Institute. Using Freddie Mac’s quarterly numbers on the refi market, UI found that the share of refi loans where borrowers tapped into their home equity has reached 77 percent of total refis in the second quarter of 2018. That was the market’s highest point since 2008, just as housing valuations began to tank ...
Redwood CEO Chris Abate: “Our game plan in the third quarter was a bit unconventional – we ran an up-tempo offense, squarely in the face of mortgage market headwinds.”
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