Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. In July 2025, a pivotal change came to the mortgage industry, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency officially approved the use of VantageScore 4.0 as an alternative to Classic FICO for mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. VantageScore claims that Classic FICO is […]
FICO isn’t the problem. A premature two-score system Is Read More »
Figure Technology Solutions has increased its expected initial public offering in both size and price, an updated prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The IPO will now consist of 31.5 million shares of its Class A stock, but nearly 4.9 million of those will come from current shareholders in the company. Figure
Figure boosts size, price of planned IPO Read More »
The headlines about potential declines in mortgage rates has consumers more inclined to become home buyers, but views on selling took a hit last month, Fannie Mae reported. Its Home Purchase Sentiment Index for August was 71.4, a 0.4 point decline from July. The only months in the past 12 which the index was lower
Buyers gain hope on rates, sellers turn cautious Read More »
Black homeowners, who already face long-term disadvantages in the housing market, are losing more ground. The Black homeownership rate fell this summer to its lowest rate since late 2021, according to Redfin. The brokerage, now a Rocket Cos. affiliate, cited annual unemployment figures, which are higher for both Black men and women than other ethnic
Black homeowners lose ground as job losses mount Read More »
The property insurance portion of the average mortgage payment keeps rising, and is now just shy of 10% of the average monthly expense, ICE Mortgage Technology said in its September Mortgage Monitor Report. Mortgage payments are broken down into two components — principal and interest, and taxes and insurance; the latter normally goes into the
Property insurance nears 10% of mortgage costs Read More »
Pres. Trump has signed into law H.R. 2808, the Homebuyer Privacy Protection Act, one month after the bill cleared the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent. The new law, which takes effect 180 days after enactment, has been welcomed by the mortgage industry for putting an end to the sale of trigger leads — consumer data
Pres. Trump signs mortgage trigger leads ban into law Read More »
Housing finance firms have been adding staff as falling mortgage rates look more likely, with stronger overall job growth raising the chances of modest business gains for the industry. “This is likely to support some additional decline in rates, which will offer opportunities at the margin for people to buy,” said Doug Duncan, former chief
Mortgage firms add staff as rate cuts look likely Read More »
While Fannie Mae has “retired” the term appraisal waiver from its seller guide, the change in the latest update, which could have the most impact on consumers involves the reconsideration of value policy. The Fannie Mae announcement is SEL-2025-07. Freddie Mac put out a similar ROV update on Wednesday in its bulletin 2025-12. Some of
Fannie, Freddie update reconsideration of value rules Read More »
Mortgage rates reached another 11-month low this past week, as markets are pricing in an expected short-term rate cut from the Federal Open Market Committee later this month. This follows a week where one long-term Treasury rate showed serious volatility. The 30-year Treasury bond posted a yield just shy of 5% during trading on Sept.
Mortgage rates sink with FOMC cuts on the horizon Read More »
These days, it’s harder than ever to break through to customers. While a company like Rocket can spend more than $800 million on stadium names and Super Bowl ads, smaller lenders have to be more creative to get noticed. From sports sponsorships and social media to blogs and buyer nights, here are some of the
How small mortgage lenders stretch marketing dollars Read More »