Mortgage

The $10 bundle of Classic FICO and FICO Score 10T is limited to lenders in a new Preferred Program, as VantageScore competes at about $1 a score.

Realtor.com’s analysis of FHFA data shows the rate lock-in barely eased in the second quarter, with a record 42.8% of mortgages originated during the pandemic boom and the 6%-plus share projected to reach 27% to 28.5% by mid-2027.

United Wholesale Mortgage’s parent expects more than $1.8 billion from a fourth-quarter MSR sale, alongside a $400 million rights offering it says outside investors are unlikely to fill, as preliminary results show a return to profit on lower loan volume.

A new executive order directs FHFA to pilot proactive mortgage insurance cancellation using current market values, make a refinance title insurance waiver permanent, and launch a manufactured housing task force.

Northpointe Bancshares signed a non-binding letter of intent to sell its distributed retail and consumer direct mortgage channels to CMG and expects $6 million to $7 million in restructuring costs.

The Memphis-based bank swung to a third-quarter loss on the sale, which it says will add about 4% to 2027 earnings and free its balance sheet for higher-yielding loans.

Better named Linda Yaccarino an independent director after Vishal Garg’s consent solicitation ousted five directors and left the lender out of compliance with Nasdaq board rules.

The MBA’s new policy roadmap, released at its Chicago convention, asks agencies to lower FHA premiums, trim GSE loan-level price adjustments and widen AI-assisted underwriting — all without new legislation.

Consumer prices rose 0.6% in September and 3.7% over 12 months, and the shelter index that carries housing costs into the CPI reaccelerated to a 3.2% annual pace just as the Fed leans toward another rate increase.

Optimal Blue’s September Market Advantage report shows adjustable-rate loans at 14 percent of locks and non-QM at 12 percent of production, while rate-and-term refinancing fell 82 percent year over year and the conforming 30-year ended the month at 7.39 percent.

Discount-rate minutes released Oct. 13 show four Reserve bank boards requesting a higher rate by early September, and directors in most districts reporting that AI and data-center work was bidding up skilled labor and competing for supplies.

MBA’s Oct. 11 forecast puts 2027 one- to four-family originations at $1.994 trillion, a 5% decline from 2026 and $107 billion below what the association projected a month earlier, after it raised its 30-year rate path to 7.1% or higher through next year.

Equifax reported VantageScore 4.0 mortgage score pulls rose 230% from April to August 2026 and said it will hold the score’s $1 price through the end of 2028. It also launched a tool letting lenders pull a credit file with no score attached.

A presidential memorandum dated Oct. 7 names a three-member committee to recommend whether there is cause to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage-document allegations, and sets a four-hour closed hearing at the White House on Nov. 5.

Freddie Mac’s survey average rose for a seventh straight week, to 7.40% from 7.28%, as 10-year Treasury yields held above 5.2% and mortgage applications fell 35% from a year ago.

HUD’s fair housing office told Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf on Oct. 7 that it is investigating whether the bank’s 2017 and 2022 commitments to Black homeownership violated the Fair Housing Act, and demanded the bank preserve all records tied to its mortgage lending policies.

Minutes of the Sept. 15-16 FOMC meeting, released Oct. 7, say most participants expected another rate increase would likely be appropriate by year end. Only two meetings remain, and Fed staff called mortgage credit somewhat restrictive.

The 30-year fixed rate reached 7.49% in the week ending Oct. 2, its highest level in almost three years, and mortgage applications fell 4.2% as refinancing collapsed and FHA purchase demand dropped 6%.

An order list issued Oct. 5 invited the United States to file briefs in three petitions asking whether the National Bank Act lets national banks ignore state laws requiring interest on mortgage escrow balances — a question the Court sent back unresolved in 2024.

The nation’s largest wholesale mortgage lender said on Oct. 6 that it will obtain both a FICO score and a VantageScore 4.0 on every credit pull and qualify the borrower on whichever is stronger, taking the choice out of brokers’ hands.

Sellers that cannot finish their UAD 3.6 transition can keep submitting the old appraisal format through May 19, 2027 — at the cost of collateral representation and warranty relief starting March 1.

Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed-rate average rose a quarter point to 7.28% on Oct. 1, the highest since November 2023, as the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.29%.

From 2028 the Fed will average two years of stress-test results to set big banks’ capital buffers, a change it says will cut volatility in requirements by half.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose for a sixth consecutive week to 7.30%, the highest since November 2023, and mortgage applications fell 6% for the week ending Sept. 25, with refinance volume down 56% from a year ago.

Rocket Mortgage will default to VantageScore 4.0 on eligible loans in the fourth quarter, the same week FHFA said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will price loans on one grid regardless of which credit score a lender uses. Fair Isaac shares fell as much as 29%.

The wholesale lender created the role less than two months after a $2.05 billion preferred-equity deal with Oaktree and the Ishbia family, and days before a $400 million rights offering record date.

Intercontinental Exchange’s August First Look shows delinquencies up 14 basis points to 3.53%, foreclosure inventory at its highest since February 2020 but barely growing, and prepayment speeds at a 17-month low.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey put the conforming 30-year fixed contract rate at 7.12% for the week ending Sept. 18, up 15 basis points, with refinancing at its slowest pace since February 2025.

The San Francisco company said Sept. 22 that a seed and Series A totaling $21 million, led by Costanoa, will fund agents that already help loan officers originate more than $1 billion in mortgages a month.

Fannie Mae awarded 919 deeply delinquent loans with $203.3 million of unpaid balance to Residential Credit Opportunities Trust IX-D. The runner-up bid alone was 100.375% of face value, a reflection of 4.31% note rates and 48% loan-to-value ratios.