The mortgage layoff streak has ended, thanks in part to improving originations in the second quarter. But don’t look for a V-shaped recovery in the numbers. The Federal Reserve still controls the table.

When rates rise, holders of MSRs can benefit by increasing the value of this esoteric asset. Now that the second quarter has ended, the biggest beneficiaries will be shops that took it easy when it came to hedging.

Rate lock volume continues to tumble in 2023, with the biggest declines coming from locks on rate-term refinance loans.

FHFA could limit usage of FHLBank advances; losses narrow at Better in first quarter; home price appreciation slowing; the impact of higher interest rates on potential borrowers.

Home equity originations peaked in the third quarter of 2022 and continued to trend down in the first quarter of 2023. Still, the total amount of funded home equity debt outstanding increased slightly. (Includes three data charts.)

A broad coalition of industry groups say FHFA’s current timeline is too short for the scale and complexity of the transition.

It got 14 votes from House Democrats, but the Republican-sponsored Middle-Class Borrower Protection Act is unlikely to make it to the Senate.

Comerica’s exit from the warehouse market is still ringing in the ears of nonbanks. Enter the MBA, whose CEO seems a bit concerned but views the situation as “market forces at work.”

More than 90% of homeowners with mortgages have loans with interest rates well below prevailing rates. That provides a strong incentive to stay put.

The top five lenders in the first quarter — four nonbanks and a large regional bank — reported a combined 7.7% decline in mortgage production from the previous period. That was roughly half the rate of decline in the overall market. (Includes two data charts.)