It’s all how you look at it. Right? The early results show a turnaround in bank mortgage lending on a sequential basis for the second quarter but ugly drops compared to a year ago. The problem: 7% mortgages.

Home prices were expected to come down this year due to affordability issues stemming from high interest rates. Instead, home prices look fairly firm thanks to housing supply/demand dynamics.

If ever there was a Horatio Alger story for the mortgage industry it’s Angelo Mozilo, the co-founder of Countrywide Financial. The recently deceased Mozilo proved that nonbanks could compete with the megabanks. Then the subprime crisis happened.

Homeowners are waiting out the high-interest rate environment before considering selling.

After FHFA required the GSEs to provide translated mortgage documents, limited English proficient borrowers’ experiences improved, new research shows.

Federal regulators are expected to propose new capital requirements for big banks; DOJ and FTC propose new guidance on mergers.

The mortgage layoff streak has ended, thanks in part to improving originations in the second quarter. But don’t look for a V-shaped recovery in the numbers. The Federal Reserve still controls the table.

When rates rise, holders of MSRs can benefit by increasing the value of this esoteric asset. Now that the second quarter has ended, the biggest beneficiaries will be shops that took it easy when it came to hedging.

Rate lock volume continues to tumble in 2023, with the biggest declines coming from locks on rate-term refinance loans.

FHFA could limit usage of FHLBank advances; losses narrow at Better in first quarter; home price appreciation slowing; the impact of higher interest rates on potential borrowers.