Entry-level buyers in the South and West are seeing more affordable starter home listings and softening prices, while buyers in the Northeast face a market that keeps getting tighter.

Truist Financial, Fifth Third Bank and Regions Financial all increased residential mortgage originations on a sequential basis in the second quarter but mortgage earnings didn't follow the same trajectory.

“The highest mortgage rates in nearly a year and the record-high national median home price together are contributing to a tepid housing market that is especially difficult for first-time homebuyers,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR.

Primary MI volume in the agency MBS market increased at a faster pace at FHA and VA in the second quarter of 2026 compared with private MI usage with the GSEs.

While other big banks posted sharp increases in originations on a quarterly basis, production at U.S. Bank was down 7.6%.

Aaron Kofsky, the acting deputy director of FHFA’s division of housing mission and goals, represented FHFA at a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council Wednesday.

Rising interest rates took a bite out of MBS and ABS issuance in May and June.

PNC's loan sale margin for residential mortgages fell from 2.25% in the first quarter to 2.01% in the second quarter.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said, if implemented, the proposed changes would make it “unattractive for banks to continue to offer” warehouse lines to nonbank mortgage companies.

Applications for refinances with FHA and VA increased by nearly double digits on a weekly basis last week.