Mortgage

Better Mortgage and Coinbase moved their token-backed conforming mortgage into general availability Wednesday, letting borrowers pledge Bitcoin or USDC to fund a down payment without selling it.

The FDIC, NCUA, OCC, CFPB, HUD, DOJ and FHFA jointly withdrew the 2022 interagency statement that encouraged lenders to offer special purpose credit programs, effective immediately upon Federal Register publication Tuesday.

The committee formed to respond to the founder’s campaign to replace the board said the decision to move on from him was unanimous among the other directors, and laid out operating results to argue the company is better off without him.

The last regulatory approval has landed and the deal is set to close before Tuesday’s market open, taking a publicly traded mortgage servicing rights REIT private inside one of the country’s largest retail lenders.

JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have each rolled out major housing-supply initiatives, led by JPMorgan’s $750 billion, decade-long American Dream Initiative.

Florida Realtors’ Board of Directors voted to support Amendment 3, the November ballot measure raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028 and lowering the non-homestead assessment cap.

Ten states led by Oregon and New York sued the OCC over rules that would let national banks stop paying interest on mortgage escrow balances in 14 states and territories.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.65% for the week ending Aug. 20, 2026, down from 6.67% a week earlier and the second consecutive weekly decline, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell 5.7% from a year earlier and 1% from June, and the MBA estimated new single-family home sales ran at a 647,000 annual pace in July, down 3% from June.

The share of mortgaged U.S. homes considered equity-rich fell to 41.1% in the second quarter, down from 43.3% in the first quarter and 47.4% a year earlier — the fourth straight quarterly decline, according to ATTOM.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 15,855 foreclosure prevention actions in May, down from the prior month, while the serious delinquency rate held at a low 0.58%, according to the FHFA.

Newly released minutes of the Fed’s July meeting show a committee divided over raising rates, with officials noting home-purchase mortgage activity ‘remained depressed.’

NAHB’s analysis of Federal Reserve data shows total consumer credit growth slowed in Q2 2026, but revolving credit card balances grew nearly twice as fast as auto and student loan debt.

Ousted Better.com founder Vishal Garg says he has secured majority shareholder backing and retained attorney Alex Spiro to retake the mortgage lender’s board. The company fired back, calling him a “terminated CEO” and disputing his account of events.

Outstanding home equity line of credit balances rose $13 billion in the second quarter, the 17th straight quarterly increase, as owners lock in low mortgage rates and borrow against equity instead, the New York Fed reports.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate eased to 6.67% this week, down from 6.69%, as Freddie Mac says borrowers continue responding to even modest rate changes.

The Justice Department and Rocket Mortgage have jointly asked a federal court in Colorado to pause a closely watched appraisal-discrimination lawsuit while the two sides pursue a settlement, according to court filings entered July 31 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. In two joint motions — one requesting a settlement conference … Read more

Mortgage servicer NewRez LLC will pay $15.5 million to resolve a multistate examination that found the company improperly charged force-placed insurance to more than 4,200 borrowers nationwide who already had active homeowners insurance policies, the Arkansas Securities Department announced August 12. Force-placed insurance is coverage a mortgage servicer buys on a borrower’s behalf, at the … Read more

Mortgage applications fell 6.6% in July and posted their first year-over-year decline in two years, according to MBA’s monthly composite data, as the average 30-year fixed rate climbed to 6.70%.

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% annually in July, an in-line reading that gives the Fed room to hold rates steady and eases near-term pressure on mortgage rates, which sit near 2026 highs.

All seven residential mortgage categories saw weaker demand in Q2 2026 even as lending standards mostly held steady, new Federal Reserve survey data analyzed by NAHB shows, with subprime the lone category still tightening.

CrossCountry Intermediate HoldCo priced $750 million of 7.750% senior notes due 2031, the third such offering in under a year aimed at paying down CCM’s mortgage servicing rights credit line.

U.S. mortgage holders held a record $18 trillion in home equity as of the second quarter, even as delinquencies and active foreclosures climbed to their highest levels in years, according to ICE’s August Mortgage Monitor report.

Mortgage rates could swing this week depending on Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index report, which Redfin economists say could decisively shift the odds ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 meeting.

TPG Mortgage Investment Trust will acquire Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp. in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $117.5 million, creating a combined residential mortgage REIT with about $9 billion in assets.

The U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, and the prior two months were revised sharply lower, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Aug. 7. The unemployment rate held at 4.1%, but the combination of a payroll decline and steep downward revisions points to a labor market that is cooling faster than headline numbers first … Read more

Rocket Companies posted its most profitable quarter in four years even as its chief executive described the spring housing market as one of the toughest in years, the Detroit-based mortgage lender announced Aug. 6. The company reported second-quarter net revenue of $2.78 billion and adjusted revenue of $2.76 billion for the period ended June 30, … Read more

UWM Holdings raised $2.05 billion from Oaktree Capital and the Ishbia family after a $451.9 million second-quarter loss tied to its failed Two Harbors bid, and suspended its dividend to prioritize debt reduction.

The MBA’s weekly survey shows the 30-year fixed rate climbed to 6.81%, its highest level in over a year, as overall mortgage application volume fell 2.9% in the week following the Fed’s July policy meeting.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are retiring the streamlined condo loan-review option for applications dated Aug. 3, 2026, and later, pushing more condo buildings into full financial and structural reviews as reserve requirements rise in 2027.