While its net income declined annually for the second consecutive year, CEO Hugh Frater touted Fannie Mae’s resiliency in a record year for providing mortgage liquidity.
Refinance application activity last week was the highest in nearly seven years, with more than triple the volume from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Large banks had huge losses from originating mortgages in 2018 as costs were three times higher than similar-sized independent lenders, according to research conducted by Stratmor and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The Federal Housing Administration is moving forward with a long-delayed plan to reduce the term of the home warranty required for high loan-to-value mortgages on new houses.
The conventional market recaptured a lot of the first-time homebuyers it lost during the financial crisis, but service members instead have increasingly stuck with loans insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Despite an overall weak mortgage originations market, Flagstar Bancorp's third-quarter earnings grew 20%, due in large part to its ongoing efforts to diversify operations.
Millennials are targeting homeownership within the next few years, but many are buying into certain house-purchasing myths, according to Bank of America.
