Waterstone Financial relents on defense against poaching allegations; Mr. Cooper takes loss on sale of Flagstar’s third-party originations unit; legal expenses rise at Mr. Cooper.

An estimated $355.0 billion of mortgages were originated in the first quarter of 2025, up 10.9% from the same period a year ago.

Much of the swing was tied to a decline in the value of mortgage servicing rights.

PrimeLending took an $8.3 million pre-tax loss in the first quarter of 2025.

“We were able to navigate that by basically just doing nothing and allowing the market to sort of go through what it had to go through,” said Peter Federico, president, CEO and chief investment officer of AGNC Investment.

Sales of existing homes declined in March on a monthly basis and compared with March 2024.

AGNC watched as volatility rocked the agency MBS market this month. The REIT counted on its cash and liquidity to avoid selling assets at a loss. Other REITs also survived unscathed.

JPMorgan Chase is marketing a prime non-agency MBS with a payment structure typically only used with expanded-credit MBS. Fitch applauded the move.

MBS exempt from Maryland licensing requirements after all; Progress Residential scraps planned single-family rental securitization; ICE offers anonymous requests-for-quote for MBS sales.

Residential lending increased by 10.9% compared with the first quarter of 2024. Interest rates on mortgages jumped this month, hampering production early in the second quarter. (Includes two data tables.)