The share of GSE purchase mortgages with LTV ratios above 80% increased during the second quarter to a level last seen in 2023. However, lenders held firm on credit scores and the high-LTV-ratio share of refi business declined. (Includes two data tables.)
By prohibiting its affiliate brokers from sending loans to Rocket Mortgage, United Wholesale Mortgage induced price cuts by brokers not covered by its exclusivity agreements.
In a random sample of mortgages, the most common significant defect was misrepresentation of occupancy. In a targeted sample, it was undisclosed liabilities.
A new study found that using real estate agent-referred lenders not only increases borrowing costs for homebuyers but also shifts the burden of those costs disproportionately to the most vulnerable households.
Purchase mortgages and refinances in the highest loan-to-value ratio category accounted for a greater share of mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the first quarter of 2026. (Includes two data tables.)
Researchers at the FRB of Richmond demonstrate how banks that gain local market share by acquiring an existing bank are likely to decrease FHA lending even while increasing conventional lending.
GSE refi business jumped and shifted toward borrowers with higher credit scores during the fourth quarter. With purchase mortgages, lenders also put a greater emphasis on LTV ratios below 81%.
Deliveries of high-risk purchase loans to the GSEs saw minor increases in the third quarter. But lenders expanded the credit for such loans in the refi sector. (Includes two data tables.)
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