Proceeds from the recent issuance have largely gone toward paying down the companies’ debt issuance from 2021 when they needed funds for their refi business.

Lenders cut more staff; rate locks up 14% in January; borrowers have plenty of equity; bill to limit trigger leads in House; LoanCare revamps servicing website; Staircase launches ChatMTG.

The GSEs and FHA should publish daily rate sheets with disclosures on interest rates for mortgages locked the previous day, according to analysts at the Urban Institute. The analysts likened their proposal to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price seen for cars and books.

Fed researchers show that, when interest rates increase, refinances decline, but alternative forms of household borrowing increase proportionally. This borrowing substitution diminishes the value of refinances as a path for monetary policy.

Regional differences in mortgage closing costs largely explain the seemingly irrational “failure to refinance” of some borrowers when rates fall.

An increase in the number of borrowers with non-traditional income sources has led more lenders to consider automated and AI-based underwriting practices, according to Ocrolus, a tech vendor.

Lenders gravitated toward lower loan-to-value ratios and higher credit scores with their deliveries to the GSEs in the third quarter.

Increased screening during underwriting helped mortgage fraud risk decline 3.1% compared to last year, according to CoreLogic.

California had more than double the amount of originations by nonbanks in 2022 compared with any other state. The refi share of originations by nonbanks in California was also elevated. (Includes data chart.)

Mr. Cooper’s servicing portfolio is expanding while the number of employees in the nonbank’s call center is declining. Investment in technology is helping to reduce costs and fuel servicing growth.