Lending and Originations

Five finalists have been named for the Five Star Institute Keys in Hand Award, shining the light on women in the industry who have spearheaded efforts to increase homeownership opportunities for all.

Take a closer look at data-supported rankings of the best starter-home locations in the U.S. just outside city centers in a new report from Today’s Homeowner.

Although mortgage rates remain above 7%, the first week of October has historically been the best time to buy a home due to a drop in demand and reduced home prices.

“Mortgage applications decreased for the seventh time in eight weeks, reaching the lowest level since 1996,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s VP and Deputy Chief Economist. “Last week’s decline was driven by a 5% drop in refinance applications, to the weakest reading since January 2023.”

While traditional credit reports remain a strong indication of past financial reliability, a credit report alone doesn’t always provide the full picture of a consumer’s financial profile.

Meet the five finalists for the Five Star Institute’s 2023 Leadership Award, who will be recognized by their peers for assembling diverse teams and fostering women leadership roles in C-Suite roles at the Women in Housing Leadership Awards Luncheon.

At the upcoming Five Star Conference & Expo, the industry’s next generation of women leaders will be recognized as part of the Women in Housing Leadership Awards Luncheon. Check out our profiles of this year’s Rising Star Executive Award finalists.

The MBA's Mortgage Credit Availability Index revealed that August's share of mortgage credit availability was on the upswing after a decrease in July, which resulted in the lowest level of credit availability recorded since 2013.

"August was another rough month for mortgage borrowers from an interest rate perspective," said Andy Walden, VP of Enterprise Research and Strategy at Black Knight, now a part of ICE.

Efforts to use this digitized data for urban development must also keep in mind how this sort of data has been used historically. A new post from David Luberoff, Deputy Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, dives into the concept.