The share of mortgages with low credit scores delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined during the first quarter. Loans from the lowest-risk category accounted for 64.35% of the GSE business. (Includes two data charts.)

FHFA economists suggest originators may have better pricing technology than Fannie and Freddie.

Researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found a much higher share of mortgages for investment properties than would otherwise be indicated from the occupancy status stated on loan applications.

Except for credit scores, traditional underwriting criteria are relatively poor predictors of homeownership longevity for first-time borrowers.

Even considering factors like credit score and income level, the denial rate for Black mortgage applicants is more than twice that of white applicants, according to an analysis of confidential HMDA data.

Underwriting standards tend to deteriorate in dire circumstances, but GSE sellers appeared to avoid taking excessive risk as 2022 wound down even as sales volumes plummeted. (Includes two data charts.)

FHFA economists focus on the mechanisms driving and defining home prices.

COVID sent home prices soaring and sped up sales. But it also created a spike in the proportion of homes removed from the market.

Single borrowers were more likely to use forbearance programs during the pandemic than coborrowers and were disproportionately helped by them, the Urban Institute found.

While interest rate hikes are deflating originations, lenders aren’t budging much on underwriting standards for purchase mortgages, based on an analysis of mortgages delivered to the GSEs in the third quarter. (Includes two data charts.)