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 ...

A few mainstream lenders are starting to take notice, but most of the action is at a handful of nonbanks that have spearheaded the sector’s rise…

Several months ago, rumors began to surface that Pacific Union might be for sale...

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.”

About 41 percent of Impac's volume now entails non-QM lending...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generated a combined net income of $6.72 billion during the third quarter of 2018, down slightly from the $6.96 billion they generated in the previous period.

Risk layering remains uncommon on the new breed of expanded-credit mortgages…

Ocwen is planning a re-engineering of its cost structure...

Among the nation’s top 20 servicers at Sept. 30, Freedom Mortgage had the largest increase its MSR balances...