With the origination market expected to suffer the next two quarters – at least – some lenders are battening down the hatches, watching expenses, while others are pondering a serious move into non-qualified mortgages, something that wasn’t even on their radar screens two years ago.
With refinance volume declining, interest rates rising and home price appreciation cooling off, lenders are loosening underwriting standards. The trends could lead to higher delinquency rates than the pristine performance seen after the recovery from the financial crisis, but there’s not much to worry about at the moment, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
Borrowers with adjustable-rate and reverse mortgages may benefit significantly from the phase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), according to new research by the Urban Institute. But the news is not so good for investors.
The current policy, issued in 2013, says the bureau will not approve a trial disclosure that weakens consumer understanding of valuable information, even if it improves cost effectiveness.