Rate-term transactions, the bread-and-butter of the refi market, declined 33.6% in May. GSE purchases of cash-out refinances fell 18.1% from April.

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However, the group did post a 1.9% increase in its investment of non-agency MBS, boosting aggregate holdings to $7.07 billion.

All things equal, "agency" jumbo volume might be expected to grow when loan limits are raised.

Roughly 14.1% of borrowers who applied for an FHA-insured purchase loan were turned down last year, compared to 12.4% in 2019.

The renewed emphasis on the correspondent channel was widespread, with nearly every lender in the group increasing originations on a sequential basis.

A slowdown in refinance activity was responsible for the May swoon.

In the first quarter of 2021, expanded-credit mortgages accounted for 0.7% of total first-lien production compared to 2.2% for all of 2019.

With mortgage rates climbing for most of the year, a pullback in refinance activity was expected.

First-timer loans with private mortgage insurance slipped to 38.6% in the first quarter, down 9 basis points, while the share of FTHB loans with no MI was basically unchanged.