Among the four main mortgage products, only originations of expanded-credit loans increased in 2018. Originations of expanded-credit mortgages rose 20.2% to $45.2 billion last year, according to estimates by Inside Mortgage Finance. Total first-lien production declined by 9.9% during the year.
Higher conforming loan limits for agency mortgage-backed securities programs didn’t do much to offset a sharp decline in total jumbo lending last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. [Includes three data charts.]
Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates shrunk in the fourth quarter of 2018, helped by tight underwriting standards along with a strong economy and home price trends. [Includes one data chart.]
Warehouse lenders ended the year with $64.0 billion of commitments on their books, a modest 1.4% sequential decline and flat compared to the same period a year ago, according to survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. [Includes one data chart.]
The one bright spot in the residential mortgage market last year was purchase-mortgage lending, which provided at least a faint glow in an otherwise dreary year for lenders. [Includes four data charts.]
Mortgage brokers aren’t taking over the world, but the industry’s share of new production reached a nine-year high in 2018, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. [Includes six data charts.]
Almost across the board, conventional and government lenders took it on the chin in terms of originations last year, but two of the largest producers of non-qualified mortgages — the Angel Oak family of companies and Citadel Servicing Corp. — excelled.
It didn’t really matter much what part of the mortgage market lenders focused on in late 2018, production fell by roughly equal degrees in the major product groups, according to an exclusive new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. [Includes two data charts.]
Two large lenders saw a decline in origination volumes in the fourth quarter because they weren’t willing to compete on price, officials at the firms said.