Income from production and servicing fell in the first quarter, but not by as much as origination volume. The MBA reported fewer firms were profitable than in the previous period. (Includes data tables.)

Correspondent sales of mortgage loans to unaffiliated buyers increased 26.8% in 2024, led by CrossCountry Mortgage, Rate and United Wholesale Mortgage. (Includes data table.)

Rent payment history and bank account income verification are just the start. Machine learning algorithms also promise better risk assessment and more accurate pricing for that risk.

Among the top-five lenders in terms of applications received for conventional-conforming mortgages in 2024, Rocket Mortgage had the highest overall denial rate at 15.9%. JPMorgan Chase ranked second with a rejection rate of 12.0%. (Includes data table.)

Most lenders reported significant improvement in servicing profitability that was driven by MSR markups. But results varied greatly on the production side, where lenders that rely on TPO channels fared much better. (Includes data tables.)

The decline in retail origination at banks and thrifts came even as overall originations increased slightly from the third to the fourth quarter. (Includes two data tables.)

For the full year, though, total bank repurchases declined to $1.02 billion, down 23.8% from 2023. (Includes data table.)

For many years, when households couldn’t afford to pay all their bills, they prioritized their auto loan payments. But as home prices have soared, mortgage payments have taken precedence.

The jump in refinance business, and a shift from cash-out to rate-term transactions, changed the credit-risk profile for Fannie and Freddie in the fourth quarter.

Commercial banks and savings institutions reported another decline in the volume of mortgages they repurchased in the third quarter of 2024. PNC Bank accounted for the largest chunk of the bank industry’s repurchases, at 11.3%.