Contracts, Invoices & Legal

An index of market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, in which below 50 means more builders see conditions as poor than good, edged down in February to 36, the lowest level since September. View the full article

The contract rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped 8 basis points to 6.09% in the week ended Feb. 20, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. View the full article

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., moved to consider the housing package next week, but it's not clear what version of the bill senators will be voting on as the House, Senate and White House are still negotiating priorities. View the full article

Borrowers or lenders could use the prediction markets as a hedging tool, although experts noted the lack of trading volume as cause for caution. View the full article

The pace of applications and closings on new construction fell from January, while the average loan size also declined, despite a period of lower rates. View the full article

Most of the loans, 57.34%, are for cashout purposes and the entire loan pool are first-liens, and are of modest leverage, with an original cumulative loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 69.74%. View the full article

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley repeated his long-standing criticism of Fair Isaac Corp. in a letter noting the detrimental impact of its prices on home buyers. View the full article

The latest rise in property tax collections at the end of last year continued a nine-quarter streak of increases, according to the National Association of Home Builders. View the full article

Some of Wall Street's biggest bond-fund managers say financial markets are underestimating the risk that the US war in Iran will cause a sharp slowdown in an already sputtering economy. View the full article

The federal court rejected Flagstar's attempts for both a panel rehearing and an en banc hearing to overturn California's interest on mortgage escrow rule. View the full article

The lender claims an originator ambushed executives in a negotiation with the confidential company financials and claimed to have shared them with competitors. View the full article

The Department of Justice is seeking court approval to immediately fire more than 600 employees, slashing the CFPB's workforce by 53%. View the full article

Losses stemming from the 2022 vintage have been offset by excess spread, while cure and roll rates signal caution. View the full article

The product preserves borrower's first mortgage, and its potentially lower mortgage rate, without requiring the new monthly payments of a traditional HELOC, FOA says. View the full article

A Iran ceasefire sparked a $20 oil drop and Treasury rally, narrowing the rate-cut window from 18 to 15 months, but key technical resistance levels and a potentially ugly Friday CPI report could still reshape the outlook, according to the head of correspondent business development at AD Mortgage. View the full article

LoanDepot will integrate Figure's proprietary credit and loan underwriting engine into its own proprietary mello technology platform and point of sale system. View the full article

Bills in Congress, capital rules, GSE reform and credit modernization hold a mix of benefits and risks for Independent Community Banker of America members, Senior Vice President Ron Haynie says. View the full article

Newly minted doctors want to buy homes but because of student debt and job history, likely can't even meet the wider jumbo underwriting criteria without help. View the full article

Contract closings decreased 3.6% to an annualized 3.98 million, according to National Association of Realtors data out Monday. View the full article

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told the House Budget Committee Wednesday that the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund is still a target for elimination by the administration because it promotes "woke" ideology. View the full article

Sun Belt states saw a noticeable surge in liens filed last year, with Florida accounting for 17% of the national total, according to Benutech. View the full article