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Refinancing slowed down in October after consecutive months of dramatic spikes, pushing down rate-lock activity.Rate locks fell 4.2% to 122 from September to October, but were still up 18% on a year-over-year basis, according to Optimal Blue's latest Market Advantage mortgage data report.Purchase locks decreased 1.5% last month, following seasonal trends, while rate-and-term refinances dropped 14% month over month, but were still up 143% from the same time last year. Cash-out refinances saw monthly and yearly increases of 6% and 29%, respectively."October's data speaks to the market's resilience," said Mike Vough, head of corporate strategy at Optimal Blue, in a press release Tuesday. "Purchase activity held steady and refinance demand — particularly cash-outs — remained strong. Even after September's record pace, October delivered another standout month for originations."Mortgage rates hit 6.17%, its lowest level in more than a year, at the end of last month, according to Freddie Mac, boosting the significant year-over-year increases in refinance activity. But after 69.8% and 153.7% increases in the prior two months, a month-over-month drop off was not surprising.The Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices 30-year conforming fixed rate fell 16 basis points to a similar 6.16%, its lowest mark since late 2023. Rates for government-backed mortgages decreased as well, with Federal Housing Administration loans down four basis to 6.04% and Department of Veteran Affairs loans down 15 basis points to 5.67% month over month.The easing rates grew the number of highly qualified refinance candidates, homeowners with at least a 720 credit score, 20% equity and potential savings of at least 75 basis points, to 1.7 million, the most since early 2022, according to ICE Mortgage Technology. Secondary markets see more activityLarger-lender securitization growth continued last month with increased activity in the secondary market. Sales to agency mortgage-backed securities climbed 400 basis points to 46%. As a result, sales to the agency cash window fell 200 basis points to 30%, while aggregator bulk and best-efforts channels each dipped 100 basis points.The share of loans sold at the highest price tier rose to 81%, up 300 basis points."October's secondary market data reflected clear strength in execution," said Vough. "Lenders leaned further into MBS sales and maintained access to top-tier pricing, signaling disciplined hedging and growing investor confidence. With securitization share and pricing quality both on the rise, large lenders appear well positioned to sustain profitability as production remains steady."

Key Insight: The CFPB has enough money to operate through Dec. 31st, but the Justice Department filed a motion about a "potential lapse in appropriations."Supporting Data: The government is relying on claims by the Office of Legal Counsel that the central bank lacks "combined earnings" to fund the CFPB, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.What's at Stake: The funding dispute is part of a larger, ongoing political and legal fight against the CFPB's unique funding structure, and efforts to shut the agency.The Department of Justice told a court that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cannot legally request funding from the Federal Reserve Board because the central bank technically has no profits. The CFPB has enough money to continue operating through Dec. 31, according to the filing.On Monday, the DOJ filed a notice with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, announcing a "potential lapse in appropriations to pay the expenses of the bureau." In the legal filing, an assistant attorney with the Justice Department said that Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought plans to prepare a report to the President and congressional appropriations committees identifying the "funding needs of the Bureau.""The Bureau does not know whether and the extent to which Congress will appropriate funding to pay the expenses of the Bureau," wrote Brett A. Shumate, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's civil division. The concept that the CFPB cannot request funding from the Federal Reserve was a novel legal theory first postulated in 2022, when the Fed first failed to report a profit. The CFPB said that it had informed the court that the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel "has determined that the bureau may not legally request funds at this time from the Federal Reserve under Dodd-Frank." "OLC made this conclusion on the basis that the Federal Reserve System currently lacks any 'combined earnings' from which the Bureau may draw funding, as required by Dodd-Frank," the CFPB said in an emailed statement. The Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal advice to the president, attorney general and various executive agencies, is headed by T. Elliot Gaiser, an assistant attorney general and a former solicitor general of Ohio who has clerked for Justice Samuel Alito.The CFPB said in its statement: "OLC opinions are binding upon Executive Branch agencies, including the Bureau."The National Treasury Employees Union has called the CFPB's funding issue a "manufactured crisis," because Vought refused to request funding in September for fiscal 2026. Vought had requested zero funding in the CFPB's fiscal third quarter, citing a large existing balance. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said the move was another attempt by Vought to illegally shut an agency created by Congress."This absurd maneuver by Russ Vought is plainly illegal, and federal judges have already rejected his fringe theory," Warren said in a press release. "If the courts continue to uphold the law, Vought will fail again."She added that: "Donald Trump will do anything to try to kill an agency that has returned more than $21 billion to scammed Americans, but he will not do anything to lower costs for American families."The next expected move is for the full D.C. Circuit to determine whether to rehear the union's case about the Trump administration's efforts to fire most of the CFPB's employees. In August, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Trump administration can fire 90% of the agency staff through a reduction-in-force without impacting the agency's legally mandated work. Many experts think the D.C. Circuit will accept the case to be heard "en banc," by the full court. The CFPB is funded through the Federal Reserve System rather than congressional appropriations but Republicans already slashed the bureau's funding this year. Under President Trump's "big, beautiful bill", Republicans capped CFPB's funding at $446 million in fiscal 2025, down from $785.4 million in fiscal 2024. The bulk of the bureau's budget pays for employee salaries. A longtime goal of opponents of the CFPB is to subject the agency to congressional appropriations.The novel theory about the CFPB not being able to get funding from the Federal Reserve gained traction in some circles in 2024, when Harvard Law School professor emeritus Hal Scott wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal just days after the Supreme Court sided with the CFPB by upholding the agency's funding as constitutional. Even after the Supreme Court's 7-2 decision, which was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, several companies immediately filed challenges to CFPB enforcement actions by reiterating the claims that the bureau is unconstitutionally funded because the Fed has been unprofitable since 2022.Vought has been in a bitter legal battle with the CFPB's union since February. In the case, NTEU v. Vought, the union claims that the acting director planned to fire 90% of the CFPB's employees but was stopped from doing so when the union sued. Since then, Vought has ordered the roughly 1,400 employees to stop work, and has claimed the CFPB needs only 200 employees to conduct its statutorily-required functions. However, some CFPB employees are still working though many describe their work as designed to further the goal of closing the agency, largely by revising or repealing regulations, closing out existing investigations and exams, and defending the bureau in litigation. Under Vought, the CFPB has dismissed nearly all pending enforcement cases, with a few exceptions. The CFPB also has been closing out "matters requiring attention," from past exams. 

In a year marked by consolidation, the mortgage industry saw another two merger agreements over the past week, both leading to unions between Mid Atlantic lenders. On Monday, Northern Virginia-based Atlantic Coast Mortgage reported it had reached a deal to acquire a fellow in-state retail lender. Located in Fairfax and currently licensed in 40 states, the company will purchase assets belonging to Virginia Beach-based Tidewater Mortgage Services.Both businesses said the merger aligns with each of their enterprise's long-term goals, allowing Atlantic Coast to grow its network and Tidewater to take advantage of advanced technologies. Atlantic Coast currently operates 23 branches from Maryland to Florida. Tidewater is currently licensed to originate in 12 states on the East Coast and also runs retail offices stretching between Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Tidewater has grown significantly over the past 25 years. Joining ACM allows us to expand our reach and product offerings while preserving our culture," said President Rob Runnells in a press release. "I think our employees will appreciate the new opportunities for growth," he added. Calling it an important step in his company's mission, Atlantic Coast CEO Jon Coy similarly said the merger would allow the newly joined businesses to deliver on a larger scale. In 2024, Atlantic Coast originated just over $2 billion in new mortgages, while volumes for Tidewater totaled $535.3 million, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. NFM, Homespire, title industry also see mergersThe news comes just days after two Maryland-based retail lenders, NFM Lending and Homespire Mortgage, unveiled a similar merger agreement combining their respective organizations. The news was first reported by Housingwire. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Homespire will continue to operate under its own branding as a unit of Linthicum-based NFM. The latter company said it had offered jobs to Homespire staff and will continue to be led by current president Michael Rappaport. The merger gives NFM, which is already licensed in 49 states, deeper penetration into Homespire's East Coast strongholds. NFM already originates mortgages through a network of different lending units alongside its own brand, including Main Street Home Loans and Bluprint Home Loans. Loan production at NFM came in at $6.6 billion last year, according to HMDA. Volumes at Gaithersburg-based Homespire totaled $650.2 million. Propy buys Delta South TitleIn a week of merger announcements, deals were not restricted to lenders. Over in the title industry, artificial intelligence fintech Propy said it reached an agreement to buy Alabama-based Delta South Title. The acquisition is the first for the title and escrow platform in its publicly announced expansion strategy, giving it a toehold in the state. Propy previously said it was eyeing regional title firms for potential acquisition in an effort to build a full-scale network backed by its AI technology.  The deals are the latest in a series of merger-and-acquisition transactions struck over the previous 12 months as the mortgage industry continues to adjust to market expectations after a sudden surge in rates earlier this decade altered homeowner behavior. More than three years after they doubled, persistently stubborn rates still offer little incentive for most current homeowners to refinance or relocate but have kept prices elevated for aspiring buyers.   Mortgage M&A is set to maintain the current pace in 2026, as even profitable lenders mull their prospects in competing against giant lenders that grew themselves, according to leading industry advisors. In the past two months, the lending industry has seen other deals struck between lenders, including an acquisition by Union Home Mortgage of assets belonging to Sierra Pacific. Late last month, Carrington Mortgage Services also added a direct-to-consumer channel to its lending operations through a new merger with Reliance First Capital. 

New insurance written at the nation's six active private mortgage insurers continued to run ahead of last year's pace during the third quarter, with the market share gap widening between the top and bottom.For the quarter, the MIs wrote $84.3 billion of new policies, compared with $81.2 billion three months prior and $82.5 billion one year ago, according to data compiled by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.It is the second consecutive quarter of 2% annual growth, following a 1% contraction in the first three months of the year.Radian, whose parent company announced both an acquisition and a shedding of its non-MI product lines, had the largest annual growth, writing 15% more NIW."Mortgage insurers remain inexpensive and Radian should have the highest [return on equity] in the group after the Inigo acquisition," Bose George, an analyst with KBW, said in the investment thesis section in his report on Radian's results. But even with a 1.2% year-over-year decline in NIW and a 4% drop in market share, MGIC remained the most prolific private MI; but the gap between it and Radian narrowed to 1.2 percentage points from 2.6 percentage points in the second quarter.The following is a roundup of the six publicly traded active private MI underwriters' third quarter results:MGIC's insurance-in-force tops $300BNet income at MGIC Investment remained strong but lower versus the comparative periods.It reported net income of $191.1 million for the third quarter, compared to $192.5 million for the three months prior and $200 million one year ago.NIW of $16.5 billion was higher than the second quarter's $16.4 billion but 4% lower on a year-over-year basis from $17.4 billion. Even so, this beat KBW's $14.7 billion estimate.But, a major milestone at the first of the modern private mortgage insurers, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., was reached at period end, with insurance-in-force of over $300 billion, said Tim Mattke, CEO, during the earnings call. This compared with $297 billion on June 30."This milestone reflects our historical and ongoing leadership in the market," Mattke added. "This achievement also reflects the dedication and excellence of our talented team, their integrity, adaptability and focus sets us apart from others and propels our success."KBW's George was a bit pessimistic about the IIF numbers although he did increase his full year new insurance written predictions through 2027."However, the IIF impact is largely being offset by faster cancellations and did not change meaningfully," George said in his commentary on the company. The analyst models IIF growth of 2.1% for this year and 1.1% in each of the next two, which compares with 0.6% for 2024.Radian gains ground in market shareSince all of the private MIs adopted the black box form of risk-based pricing, quarterly market share had been volatile.But in the third quarter, Radian had the largest business growth. Besides 15% year-over-year growth in NIW, it gained 8% quarter-to-quarter, the KBW data said.During the quarter, it announced the proposed acquisition of Inigo, a specialty insurer in the Lloyds marketplace, and the divestiture of its conduit, title insurance and real estate services units.Inigo should close in the first quarter of next year, management said on the earnings call.Radian's sales process "is well underway, and has attracted interest from numerous potential buyers for each of the three businesses," said Rick Thornberry, CEO.Similar to MGIC, it reported a slight decrease in net income from the second quarter, to $141 million from $142 million, and a larger year-over-year drop from $152 million.But its NIW grew to $15.5 billion from $14.3 billion and $13.5 billion in the respective comparative periods. Refinancings made up 5% of the NIW, unchanged from the second quarter."Radian's transformation from a leading U.S. mortgage insurer into a global multiline specialty insurer is expected to increase our addressable market for continuing operations by a factor of 12, providing flexibility to deploy capital across multiple insurance lines through various business cycles," Thornberry said.The discontinued businesses lost $11 million for the quarter, inclusive of $7 million of estimated costs for their future sale. This compared with a year ago loss of $15 million; those figures are net of taxes.Enact increases dollar volume, but lower net incomeEnact tied for the second largest quarter-to-quarter gain in NIW share. When compared with one year ago, it joined Radian and National MI as the only firms which were able to increase the dollar volume of new activity.It had a bigger quarter-to-quarter drop in net income than its two larger competitors to $163 million versus $168 million in the second quarter. For the third quarter last year, it earned $181 million.For the third quarter, it had NIW of $14 billion, up from $13.3 billion three months prior and $13.6 billion one year prior.Overall, our business remains underpinned by strong demographic tailwinds, particularly from prospective first-time homebuyers entering the market," Rohit Gupta, president and CEO said during the earnings call. "We remain optimistic about the long-term health of the U.S. housing market and confident in our ability to deliver through economic cycles."When asked about artificial intelligence transforming the MI business, Gupta responded "I've said in the past that we continue to invest on that front both for efficiency reasons and making smarter and more granular decisions. So that's basically how we see that playing out for our business."Arch on pace for $1B in underwriting incomeArch Capital Group's mortgage insurance group remains on pace to deliver $1 billion in underwriting income for 2025. It did $260 million in the current quarter, compared with $238 million last quarter and $269 million one year ago.The improvement from last quarter was primarily due to a lower level of ceded premiums as a result of the tender offers we executed in the second quarter for two Bellemeade Re securities," explained Francois Morin, chief financial officer, during the earnings call. "There was also a slight benefit due to a higher level of cancellations on CRT transactions."Net premiums written by the mortgage insurance segment, which also includes international and reinsurance activities, was down 2.8% from the third quarter 2024."We are well positioned to support first-time home buyers when the U.S. housing market eventually expands," said Nicolas Papadopoulo, Arch CEO, on the call. "The broader mortgage insurance market remains healthy with disciplined underwriting and stable pricing."Arch, which has other insurance lines, had net income of $1.3 billion in the third quarter, versus $1 billion last year.NIW of $13 billion compares with $12.3 billion in the second quarter and $13.5 billion one year prior.NMI CEO says potential MI entrant not neededDuring NMI Holdings' third quarter earnings call, the management team was asked about a potential new entrant to the mortgage insurance business.Adam Pollitzer, president and CEO, said the company is aware of this development. According to a LinkedIn post from the Mortgage Scoop, the company is Anza Mortgage Insurance; the company has several experienced executives listed on its website as part of its efforts including Chris Gamaitoni as CEO, a former managing director at Tilden Park Capital Management and Compass Point Research and Trading.No clear need for another competitor exists in the market today, said Pollitzer. Moreover, he pointed to National MI's experience as a de novo entrant."We, perhaps more than anybody else, know the challenges and difficulties that come with building a private MI business, it is not easy at all, right?" he said. "It is hard to raise the capital needed, it's really hard to create an operating platform for the MI business."It's really hard to hire the right team to sign up customers, earn their trust and also manage through an extended J curve to get to a point of profitability," Pollitzer said.NMI Holdings had its first profitable quarter in 2016. National MI started underwriting policies in April 2013.While not knowing what will happen, it added "it's a very high bar," which requires a large amount of capital just to comply with the Primary Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements.While National MI is still the smallest company in terms of IIF, it ended the quarter on par with Arch when it came to new insurance written. It has IIF of $218.4 billion as of Sept. 30; Essent, the other de novo formed after the Great Financial Crisis forced three companies into run-off, was the next smallest at $247 billion.NMI Holdings earned $96 million for the third quarter, flat with the second quarter's $96.2 million and up from $92.8 million one year ago.Its $13 billion of NIW was up from $12.5 billion in the second quarter and $12.2 billion for the third quarter of 2024.Essent NIW, market share both declineOf the six active companies, Essent was the only one which wrote less new business compared with the previous quarter and year. It did $12.2 billion of NIW in the third quarter, compared with $12.5 billion in both comparable periods.Essent's market share fell to 14.5%, down by 0.9% on an annual basis and by 0.6% from the prior year.Net income was $164.2 million, down from $195.4 million in the second quarter and $176.2 million one year ago."We remain committed to a prudent and conservative capital strategy that allows us to maintain a strong balance sheet to navigate market volatility while preserving the flexibility to invest in strategic growth," Chairman, CEO and President Mark Casale said during the earnings call. "Thanks to our robust capital position and strength in earnings, we are well positioned to actively return capital to shareholders in a value-accretive fashion," he added. Essent's title insurance business "has performed pretty much in line with what we thought, if we would have thought rates would be this high, to try to be honest with you," Casale said in response to a question."I think if rates go lower, we're very levered to rates given the lender focus of the business."It is growing primarily in Texas and Florida "and a bit of the Southeast," he said. Essent is still building out the business "and we're fine with that."If it gets big enough, title insurance will pop up as its own reporting segment but "if it stays small, it says small, and that could happen."

There’s been a lot of buzz about a possible 50-year mortgage after President Trump teased it over the weekend on his Truth Social platform.Of course, anyone who knows anything about mortgages knows it’s not going to happen. Sorry folks!But in the meantime, we can all talk about it and learn something along the way.One thing I want to point out is that you pay a premium for a longer-term mortgage.For example, 30-year fixed mortgages are more expensive (rate-wise) than 15-year fixed mortgages because you get double the amount of time to pay it off.Your Mortgage Rate Will Be Higher If You Take Out a 50-Year FixedAs noted, the longer the loan term, the higher the mortgage rate, all else equal.This is why the 15-year fixed is cheaper than the 30-year fixed, and why the 10-year fixed is even cheaper than the 15-year.The more time you get, the higher the rate. It’s logical. Banks are taking a risk by giving you a loan for a longer period of time and want to be compensated.That compensation is achieved with more interest paid out via both the higher interest rate and longer loan term.So when I see all the layman folks comparing the 30-year fixed to the 50-year fixed, they’re making a big mistake.They are inputting the same mortgage rate and then comparing the products side by side.In reality, the 50-year fixed might come with an interest rate that is a full half-percent higher than the 30-year fixed.As such, the math changes pretty significantly and reduces the effectiveness of the longer loan term.50-Year Mortgages Barely Lower the Monthly PaymentThe whole point of a longer-term mortgage is to achieve a lower monthly payment.But if the rate is markedly higher, you might not even save much. And as many have pointed out, you’ll pay a lot more interest.So if you get no benefit payment-wise, while also paying the double the interest, what’s the point?Well, this is exactly WHY these types of mortgages aren’t offered. And why loan terms beyond 30 years were specifically excluded from the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule post-GFC.Lawmakers knew these loans weren’t helpful and in fact harmful to homeowners, so they essentially banned them.This is why you rarely you even see even a 40-year fixed mortgage because they just don’t move the dial on payment much and they cost the homeowner a lot more.Not to mention the extra decade it takes to pay the thing off!You Could Just Buy Down the Rate on a 30-Year Fixed InsteadNow let’s do the math to illustrate why these loans are useless and how you could achieve the same savings simply by buying down your mortgage rate.I said mortgage rates are higher on longer-term loans, so a 50-year fixed mortgage (if it existed) would likely have a rate 0.50% higher than a comparable 30-year loan.So let’s pretend a lender offered one and you needed a $400,000 loan. The 30-year fixed is currently priced at about 6.375%. That would make a 50-year fixed 6.875%, or perhaps even 7%.With it being a new product and higher-risk, lenders might price them even more conservatively, meaning 7% wouldn’t be out of the question.Meanwhile, a lender is offering a 6% 30-year fixed if you pay a fraction of a mortgage discount point at closing.Let’s call it 0.625% points to get your rate down below-market to 6% instead of 6.375%.We are now comparing a 6% 30-year fixed to a 7% 50-year fixed. Sorry folks, you don’t get the same rate!Guess what happens. Well, the monthly payment becomes cheaper on the 30-year loan.A 30-year fixed set at 6% is $2,398.20 per monthA 50-year fixed set at 7% is $2,406.75 per monthIt’s actually about $9 cheaper per month to just go with the 30-year fixed.Meanwhile, you would pay $1,044,050.00 in interest over a 50-year loan term versus just $463,352.00 with a 30-year fixed.For an upfront cost of $2,500 you could obtain the 6% rate instead of the 7% rate, get a lower monthly payment, and pay nearly $600,000 less in interest.What’s more, that cost could be absorbed by a builder or home seller via seller concessions, so you wouldn’t even need to pay it out of pocket.This illustrates why a 50-year fixed mortgage is completely unnecessary and would do nothing to help prospective home buyers achieve the American Dream. Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 19 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two influential mortgage buyers the United States holds in conservatorship, are looking into doing more with loans transferred between buyers and sellers, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte."At Fannie and Freddie, we are evaluating how to do assumable or portable mortgages in a safe and sound manner," Pulte, who refers to FHFA as US Federal Housing, said in a social media post on X.While loans backed by agencies like the Federal Housing Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs can be assumed, the government-sponsored enterprises Pulte oversees have restricted the practice to circumstances like death and divorce for fixed-rate mortgages.If the enterprises allow new homebuyers to assume existing FRMs, it could move more homes in a market where many existing households have lower-than-market rates, but it also may introduce new risks and put pressure on mortgage companies' margins.Assumable vs. portable loansIn the United States, the small but growing use of loan assumptions in conjunction with homebuying involves situations where the seller transfers their existing mortgage to the buyer, whereas in a country like Canada, borrowers may "port" their existing loan to a new property."Assumability stays with the house. Portability stays with you," said Emmanuel Santa-Donato, senior vice president and chief market analyst at Tomo Mortgage. "In Canada, you can move the loan as long as the outgoing property value is higher."Differences between countries raise questions about how well its concept of portability would work in the United States, Santa-Donato said, noting that the U.S. market generally gives consumers the right to refinance into lower rates, but Canada has strict prepayment penalties.Challenges for mortgage companiesU.S. lenders may want to avoid fixed-rate loan assumptions, however, because they're less financially attractive than making a new mortgage would be. Assumptions also extend the time the holder of the loan is stuck with a lower-than-market-rate asset.Mortgage lenders and investors may want to have some incentive to take such risks, Santa-Donato said, noting that in some cases sellers of homes also may want something to offset the fact they're giving up low rate financing they have to someone else.In markets where sellers have the upper hand, assumptions might not necessarily make homebuying less expensive for new borrowers."I do think this thread can get lost in the conversation around assumable mortgages," he said.A specialist's view of the market potentialIn a market where 70% of borrowers have a rate under 5%, $9 trillion of loans transferred at an average rate of 3% would save the typical borrower $700 per month for 26 years or $200,000-plus over the life of the loan, according to Raunaq Singh, founder and CEO of Roam, a brokerage that specializes in assumable loans.These loans do have some upsides for the industry given that companies that hold mortgage servicing rights would rather keep a loan in portfolio with a lower-than-market rate than see it go into runoff altogether."Servicers like assumable mortgages because they can collect 25 basis points per payment and retain their MSRs instead of having them paid off and sent elsewhere," Singh said in an email. "Additionally, they can originate a second mortgage to the consumer, which makes the transaction worth upwards of $10,000 per customer."A second mortgage might be needed to make up a difference between the original mortgage for a home and the house's current purchase price if it's notably higher, Santa-Donato said.Buyers may want to run calculations for a weighted average interest rate based on what's available for the first and second lien combined in those instances to determine how much or whether the two types of financing help with affordability.What could determine whether assumption use growsHow attractive loan assumption is for homebuyers may depend on relative prices and whether they have an advantage over sellers in a housing market that's softening in some areas.Borrowers have to meet certain underwriting criteria to get an assumption and much will depend on what any requirements for them in government-related loan programs turn out to be, said Kara Snow, senior regulatory counsel at Covius. If the housing market keeps softening and the enterprises that buy many mainstream loans in the United States do broaden the rules for fixed-rate loan assumptions, it could put more pressure on lenders to more routinely allow them, and make processing more efficient."If Pulte makes assumable mortgages a much bigger part of Fannie and Freddie's portfolio, then assumable mortgages could get much more popular across the board," Snow said.

President Donald Trump downplayed criticism of the potential creation of a 50-year mortgage product, saying it would help more Americans afford monthly payments on homes. "It's not even a big deal," Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired on Monday. "All it means is you pay less per month. You pay it over a longer period of time. It's not like a big factor."Extending the length of a mortgage to 50 years from the standard 30-year period would reduce monthly payments for borrowers, but it would also mean buyers build equity much more slowly and would pay far more interest over the lifetime of the loan.READ MORE: Trump, Pulte float 50-year mortgage use in U.S.Critics of the plan, including Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have assailed the idea as being a giveaway to banks and mortgage lenders.Discussions about a 50-year mortgage bubbled up over the weekend when Trump posted an image on social media that showed former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's picture under the words "30-year mortgage," next to a photo of Trump with the caption "50-year mortgage."Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte on Saturday posted on social media that "thanks to President Trump, we are indeed working on The 50 year Mortgage - a complete game changer."The Trump administration's focus on lowering the monthly cost of homeownership follows a series of Democratic victories last week when candidates won over voters by focusing on affordability and cost-of-living issues.It's unclear exactly how the US government could compel banks to offer longer-term home loans.White House Economic Director Kevin Hassett on Monday told reporters that the Trump administration is closely studying the idea, but suggested Congress may need to get involved."There's a lot of legal analysis, but if it requires legislation, then it wouldn't be imminent," he said."The average age of a first-time homebuyer has gone up by about 10 years, in just a few years, and it's something that we're very serious about addressing," Hassett added.The average for 30-year, fixed loans is 6.22%, data from Freddie Mac show. That's slightly down from rates that exceeded 7% in 2023, but far higher than the sub-3% rates available in the wake of the 2020 pandemic.READ MORE: Refi opportunities hit 3-year high as rates easeThe Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate by a quarter-point in its meeting last month, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned investors not to count on another cut in December.In September, housing inventory reached the highest level since 2019, according to a report released last week by analytics firm Cotality. Price increases have slowed in recent months, but steep jumps in home values in recent years have put strain on affordability.

The Veterans Affairs home loan benefit has been available for more than 81 years, yet misconceptions about the program persist, a Navy Federal Credit Union survey found. These misunderstandings affect both eligible borrowers and real estate professionals concerned about VA requirements.VA mortgage applications accounted for 13.4% of all mortgage applications in the week ending Oct. 24, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, with the Federal Housing Administration at 20.5% and the remainder largely conventional loans. The following week, VA's share rose to 14.9%, while FHA fell to 18.5%. During August, 7.3% of mortgaged homebuyers used a VA loan, up from 6.5% in August 2024, marking the highest August share since 2019, Redfin reported. At the same time, conventional mortgages accounted for 78.9% of originations, while FHA loans were used by 13.9% of borrowers."VA loans have a better chance of getting accepted in today's buyer's market than they did several years ago, when buyers were competing against each other and sellers were calling the shots," said Bill Banfield, chief business officer at Rocket, Redfin's parent company. Jim Fletcher, a Tampa-based Redfin agent, noted that buyers using VA loans with low or no down payment are winning deals in slow markets with ample inventory. However, some sellers still favor conventional loans with higher down payments, said Matt Ferris, a Redfin agent in Virginia, who described military family sellers choosing higher conventional offers over VA bids.VA lending continues despite shutdown strainsEven amid the ongoing government shutdown, VA lending is largely proceeding, Pete Kasperowicz, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said in an email. "Guaranteed loans are processed by the mortgage industry, and VA processes home loan eligibility determinations. Nearly 80% of all requests for certificates of eligibility are processed instantaneously, and 99.9% in five days."The VA is experiencing some strain, with nearly 37,000 employees furloughed or working without pay. Kasperowicz said the shutdown has affected other VA services, leaving hundreds of thousands of veterans without counseling, transition briefings, or educational support.NewDay USA, a lender focused on veterans, has not seen disruptions in processing VA loans, said Neil Brooks, newly appointed president of NewDay Home. The process becomes more complicated when a veteran works for the federal government. "If you're trying to close on a house, and you did four years in the Air Force and now work for the TSA, or as an air traffic controller, and you haven't been paid in 30 days, you're not closing on that house," Brooks said. Employment verification, the final step in underwriting, can stall or collapse a transaction if the borrower has no current income or no one is available to verify it due to furloughs.Brooks, a Navy veteran and former top-producing Realtor, is now launching NewDay Home and a network of real estate agents, with plans to recruit other veterans.Barriers to broader VA loan useMany veterans still have misconceptions about the VA program, a Navy Federal Credit Union survey found. More than half incorrectly believed a down payment was required. Only 47% of veterans knew the no-down-payment option exists, compared with 29% of active duty participants. Survey respondents averaged more than two misconceptions about the program.The survey found that under 40% relied on official VA or military resources for information, while 20% conducted personal research and 9% consulted family members. "When our members feel understood and supported, the dream of homeownership becomes a reality — and that's a mission we're proud to stand behind," said Christopher Davis, Navy Federal's assistant vice president, residential lending.NewDay Home and other initiatives support veteransBrooks emphasized that NewDay Home provides expert guidance to veterans navigating the homebuying process. Even sellers can benefit when appraisals come in below contract price through the "Tidewater" process, which allows agents to provide additional market information to support the sale price.Although VA loans are typically 100% loan-to-value, many veterans lack funds for closing costs. Through NewDay Advantage, the company offers an unsecured loan with a five-year term at 9.99% interest, returning all interest paid if repaid in the first year. "We are doing what we can to give a leg up to our veteran and active duty community right now; this is unprecedented in the industry," Brooks said.Other efforts include the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas' HAVEN program. Army veteran Derek Gonzalez received a $22,000 grant from the Housing Assistance for Veterans program for home repairs in Killeen, Texas. The program, funded with $1 million this year and offering up to $25,000 per individual, can be used for home modifications, housing construction, and down payment assistance.The Mortgage Industry Standards Organization recently completed a 30-day comment period on a Federal Government Housing Agency Servicing Dataset, part of VA Loan Guaranty Service modernization efforts. "This effort supports the VA's future modernization goals and lays the groundwork for broader industry adoption of standard servicing data, which will strengthen consistency and efficiency in loan servicing," said Rick Hill, acting president of MISMO.Looking aheadAs Veterans Day approaches, these programs and initiatives highlight the ongoing evolution of VA home loans, aiming to clarify misconceptions and support veterans in achieving homeownership even amid external challenges such as government shutdowns.

A federal judge awarded United Wholesale Mortgage a $325,000 final judgment against a small California brokerage the wholesale giant sued for breaking its "All-In" agreement. U.S. District Judge Laurie J. Michelson filed the consent judgment Friday against Kevron Investments, after also ruling against the shop in March. The wholesale leader accused Kevron of violating their contract, which bars broker partners from dealing with competitors Rocket Cos. and Fairway Independent Mortgage. UWM sued Kevron in February 2022, for allegedly selling 22 loans to those competitors while sending loans to the Pontiac, Michigan giant. Michelson partially ruled against Kevron in March, stating the shop had agreed to UWM's new terms by continuing to submit loans to it, post All-In addendum.The California brokerage, also known as Westlake Mortgage Group, was then ordered to pay $70,000 in damages, or $5,000 per loan, for 14 mortgages it had submitted to Rocket since November 2021. Last week's judgment did not elaborate if the final damages, which include attorneys' fees, were related to additional loans that were originated outside of All-In. A spokesperson for UWM Monday afternoon said the company was pleased with the outcome, and that "truth and facts prevailed.""From day one, we've been crystal clear about the facts of this case, and Kevron's willingness to stipulate to this judgment in light of the court's recent decision confirms exactly what we said all along," the statement read. "We're pleased — but not surprised — by this outcome."Neither a representative for Kevron nor its attorneys responded to requests for comment Monday. Kevron, which lists five sponsored mortgage loan originators in public records, is licensed in both California and Colorado. It's one of five brokerages UWM has sued for violating All-In, and the second to have to pay the larger competitor.Courts haven't slowed UWM in All-In fightsThe company rocked the broker space in 2021 when it targeted Rocket and Fairway, suggesting their retail arms posed an existential threat to the wholesale space. In a deposition last year, UWM Chief Marketing Officer Sarah DeCiantis explained their threat, in a description cited by Judge Michelson. "It's very, very difficult for a loan to come back into wholesale once retail's got a hold of it," said DeCiantis, in a deposition included in UWM's public case filings last year. The lender has sued broker partners for violating its addendum since 2021, including accusing one since-defunct brokerage of owing UWM nearly $2 million for 380 loans it sold to Rocket. That company, America's Moneyline, lost a federal court appeal this summer. Cases against two additional ultimatum breakers, Atlantic Trust Mortgage and District Lending, also survived dismissal attempts earlier this year. In 2023, UWM reached a $40,000 settlement with broker partner Mid Valley Funding for violating the agreement. Florida-based Okavage Group also filed an antitrust lawsuit against UWM in 2021 over the addendum, another longstanding complaint which was dismissed last September. Three judges of the U.S. Circuit Court's Eleventh District also rejected Okavage Group's claims this spring. America's Moneyline earlier this year contested that other brokerages have violated the All-In mandate and haven't been sued, citing mortgage data. A spokesperson for UWM has previously said there are no exceptions to the addendum. 

A big year for mergers and acquisitions in the mortgage space has even profitable companies weighing moves as buyers are ponying up premiums. Stratmor Group Senior Partner Garth Graham said the strategic advisory firm is in the process of transactions with profitable companies who in past cycles would've stood pat, but are now mulling whether the ground is shifting under their feet. Prospective sellers are either bullish on the leverage they have with their technology, or they want to compete with the big movers, such as Rocket Cos. or Bayview Asset Management."The buyers are paying enough to make sellers, even though they're profitable, take notice," he told National Mortgage News. The industry will see close to 40 transactions this year, and Graham expects a similar amount in 2026. The pace far exceeds the 25 transactions in 2024, despite lenders today only making marginally more profit than they did previously. The industry veteran spoke with NMN about the factors around today's dealmaking environment, and whether there will be another major deal following 2025's headline moves. Graham also discussed how artificial intelligence could factor into the dealmaking environment. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Last year you described how unprofitable lenders could face pressure from warehouse lenders funding origination pipelines. Are they still facing those pressures?Graham: That pressure has not been as great [as last year], because that was when we were literally coming off eight quarters where the majority of companies lost money, which means they're eating into the retained earnings from the big years or they're having to put capital in. At some point, the warehouse lenders will not continue to support it. There's less companies that fit that bucket. So I think the pressure is less, except if you're in that bottom 20%. Eighty percent of the mortgage companies are making money. Twenty percent aren't. At some point there's not going to be as much tolerance for that. When 80% aren't making money, are you going to get rid of 80% of your customers? No, but you'll get rid of 10 to 20% of your customers, especially because the ones that aren't making money are also the small ones. Part of the reason they're not making money is they're too small. You could take a whack at that bottom 20% and it would not cost you 20% of your volume as a warehouse lender. It's not as much of a threat that you must sell. The threat is more from the individual business owner's perspective of, can I compete? Even if the market is getting better, there's kind of a level set: Can I compete with these large plays by some of these large players? There's a lot of lenders, good ones, who are saying, yikes, the landscape is kind of shifting under my feet. Do you think there will be more major transactions?Graham: I do not believe we've seen the last deal of deals that I would call big. There's certainly people who are able to write checks for some of these big companies that remain. I don't believe people, one year ago, thought that that Guild was a seller. In fact, they weren't a seller. If Guild, who was profitable, balanced, well-run, strong management, been around forever, heck if they can sell, it's hard to imagine that not everybody, even if it's a public company, might at some point be a potential acquisition target.How is evolving technology influencing M&A activity?Graham: It really is difficult to know exactly how this will shake out. There's two ways to look at it. AI is easy enough to experiment with. Maybe it is an opportunity for the democratization of tech. You don't have to be big to make huge bets. Right now we're in that weird period, sort of like we were at that beginning period of Uber, where every Uber was cheaper than a cab. Uber gobbled up market share, and once they fundamentally changed the behavior of people, it was a better experience than the typical cab, suddenly prices went up. AI is kind of like that. We are getting asked constantly by lenders, what should I think about AI? We've been involved in some AI implementations, with differing measures of success. But what struck us is the cost of the solutions for what they are fundamentally doing is pretty low, and the contracts are pretty short. And the reason the contracts are short, the vendors aren't sure what to charge either, because they're concerned that the underlying cost of leveraging large language models and hosting and everything else, it's almost like the investment cost is being borne somewhere else. It's so inexpensive, but it can't stay that way forever. Right now it's an arms race. There's a lot of things coming out, a lot of smaller vendors, and it's super interesting now. The other way to look at it is, if lenders, especially large ones, who are making big bets in consolidation, aggregate a ton of data and are building out AI — and by the way, the biggest lenders in our space are building AI like crazy — they may get to the point where they are fundamentally driving down the cost. And if you can't compete at the cost level, you could be in trouble. Now there's many, many, many mortgage bankers who do a very good job justifying the value of the service they provide, that justify premium price, or not a super low price. And there's pretty low-cost lenders who try to race to the bottom on price and don't do very well on purchase. So there's still a space for the person for the premium price to provide a premium service. But is AI or tech investment going to change that? Can you get the low price and have a really, really, really good service? What do you think about talk of an AI bubble?Graham: I'm getting PTSD because I rode a bubble as the founder of mortgage.com, so this is hitting me where I live. The fundamental piece in the dotcom bubble, is that our belief was customers would dramatically change the way in which they access the product itself. They would do it online. But in that dotcom bubble, we never changed the economics because the acquisition costs were so high. You still had to spend a lot of money to get people to the website. The thing that maybe is different is that everything is pivoting towards an AI experience. You start to get used to these quick answers, the synthesis of information in a format, and suddenly that's applied to, "the best mortgage for you is this," and you could certainly see that a consumer would adopt it, or the loan officers and others in our industry would adopt it, because it's pretty darn effective. I think the bubble potential is when suddenly the cost of the underlying service gets passed through to the user in the form, and like in the internet, in the form of advertising at some point. Right now we're probably in this rising period because we're kind of not paying for what the real cost of this is. So it's a tricky one. What else are you hearing from, or telling lenders?Graham: The concept of the Rocket-Redfin-Mr. Cooper deals are really the concept of merging real estate mortgage ecosystems, for the most part a fairly low margin business for the last few years. If you flip to the real estate side and ask them the same, you'd probably get the same answers. Too many players, pretty small margins, we need to expand where we make money. The merging is really two sides of the same equation in how to completely vertically integrate. So title companies, the service providers, the ancillary service providers. The other thing that's a hot topic, I don't know what it will mean from an acquisition standpoint, property insurance is a mess. It is potentially going to impact default rates. It's impacting pull-through, it's impacting consumer sentiment. Everyone's like, well, at some point these millennials will enter the market to the extent they are ready. Well that insurance thing isn't helping. You can provide services, the traditional ancillary services, title, etc, but insurance is just a big fat need. I don't know if anyone's going to figure out how to tackle it, especially when you live in Florida or California, or some of these high-risk states. But to get the ability to help people in that entire journey, which includes the insurance and the mortgage, the real estate side has an opportunity to really move the needle and maybe help them enter the market if they're first-time home buyers, or stay in their home. I think that adds value. I think there'll be consolidation in that area as well.