Homebuyer affordability declined in January, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants increasing to $2,070 from $2,025 in December.
Category: News and Trends
Premier Member Editorial: The Economics of Loan QC Are Changing With AI
Sei AI Co-Founder & CEO Pranay Shetty writes that quality control in mortgage lending has reached an inflection point.
Annual Home Price Growth Ends 2025 at 1.3%–Weakest Since 2011
The 2025 housing market ended with the weakest annual appreciation since the market bottomed out in 2011 following the Great Recession, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index.
Clever Offers: 85% of Homeowners Faced Unexpected Repair Costs Last Year
About 85% of homeowners spent money on an unplanned home repair last year, according to a new report from Clever Offers, St. Louis.
Federal Officials Talk Top Housing, Servicing Priorities
GRAPEVINE, Texas–Efficiency, liquidity and education were top themes when three federal housing officials took the stage to discuss their accomplishments so far and priorities moving forward at the Mortgage Bankers Association Servicing Solutions Conference and Expo Feb. 17.
Owen Lee: Servicing Helps Keep American Dream Alive
GRAPEVINE, Texas–“Thanks to your hard work, millions of people are safe in their dream of homeownership. Thanks to your hard work, millions of people who have fallen on hard times have found the flexibility to keep the dream alive,” said Owen Lee, 2026 Mortgage Bankers Association chair-elect and CEO of Success Mortgage Partners at the MBA Servicing Solutions Conference and Expo Feb. 17.
Redfin: All-Cash Purchases Drop in December
Redfin, Seattle, released a new report finding that only 29% of homes were bought with cash in December, down from 30.3% a year earlier. That’s also the lowest December share since 2020.
MBA Economist Weighs In on Q4 GDP Results
Real gross domestic product increased 1.4% in Q4 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Feb. 20.
ACES Quality Management: Overall Critical Defect Rate Increases
ACES Quality Management, Denver, reported the overall critical defect rate increased from 1.51% in Q2 2025 to 1.79% in Q3 2025, an 18.5% increase.
Chart of the Week: Annual Change in PCE Inflation
While markets were eager for Friday’s report on Q4 2025 GDP, perhaps the most significant result was that PCE inflation increased 2.8% compared to a year ago, a reacceleration from the third quarter, with the core measure exhibiting a 2.9% increase.