Mortgage brokers and their wholesale funders gained some share in the FHA/VA market during the first quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis. Survey data collected by Inside Mortgage Finance show that all three production channels took big hits in FHA/VA volume in early 2018. The $49.11 billion in government-insured lending reported by participating lenders was down 20.7 percent from the previous quarter and 10.8 percent below the volume the group generated in the first three months of 2017. Correspondent production remained the biggest source of FHA/VA loans, accounting for 53.5 percent of the survey sample in the first quarter. But production through this channel was down 22.2 percent from the previous three-month period, a slightly larger decline than seen overall. Four of the top five lenders in the group have strong correspondent platforms, especially ... [Chart]
The REIT was vague when describing what the cash will be used for, sticking to the standard line about using the proceeds for “general corporate purposes.”
Purchase-mortgage lending, like virtually every other component of the home-loan market, was down in the first quarter of 2018. But first-time buyers continued to fight the challenges of rising house prices, higher interest rates and depleted inventory, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of agency mortgage-backed securities data. [Includes four data charts.]
The number of homes sold to first-time homebuyers fell in the first quarter of 2018, indicating that the market’s rapid growth in recent years may be over and that slower production with occasional pullbacks may be expected in the future, according to Genworth Mortgage Insurance.
The mortgage industry isn’t fully prepared to accept borrowers with income from the so-called gig economy, according to a survey by Fannie Mae. Nearly every mortgage executive surveyed reported that such income is difficult to approve when considering a loan application.