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2 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
More than 80% of metro markets (189 out of 228, or 83%) registered home price gains in the first quarter, down from 89% in the fourth quarter, as per the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) latest quarterly home price report. Twenty-six markets (11%) experienced double-digit annual price appreciation – down from 14% in the previous quarter, according to the report.
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2 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
Delinquency rates for mortgages backed by commercial properties increased slightly during the first quarter according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest commercial real estate finance (CREF) Loan Performance Survey. The share of loans that were delinquent increased for office and lodging, decreased for industrial and retail properties, and remained roughly constant for multifamily properties overall.
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2 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
David Nielsen David Nielsen has joined mortgage technology company Novaprime as chief revenue officer. Nielsen has 20 years of sales experience at leading mortgage companies. He joins Novaprime – which offers real-time mortgage intelligence and secondary marketing automation – from Dark Matter Technologies, formerly known as Black Knight, where he served as senior vice president, national sales.
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2 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
GridBase, a middleware provider for the title and mortgage industry, and Qualia, a digital real estate closing platform, are partnering to integrate Resware, part of Qualia’s suite of enterprise title offerings, with Encompass Partner Connect (EPC). This integration, powered by GridBase’s order management middleware, enhances connectivity between title and lending systems for a more efficient, seamless workflow, GridBase says in a release.
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2 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
Mortgage application volume increased 1.1% during the week ended May 9, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey. Mortgage rates were stable during the week: The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.86%, up slightly from 6.84% the previous week. Applications for refinances decreased 0.4% compared with the previous week but were up 44% compared with the same week one year ago.
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3 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
The residential mortgage delinquency rate as of the end of the first quarter stood at about 4.04% of all loans outstanding, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. That’s up 6 basis points compared with the fourth quarter and up 10 basis points from one year ago, according to the report. The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started in the first quarter rose by 5 basis points to 0.20%.
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3 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
Total mortgage lock volume increased 3.2% in April compared with March, driven mainly by an uptick in FHA loans, according to Optimal Blue’s April 2025 Market Advantage report. Purchase locks increased 7.5% compared with the previous month, despite ongoing economic pressures, but were down 5% year-over-year. Refinance activity fell in response to rising interest rates. Rate-and-term refis dropped 15% compared with March while cash-out refis dipped 3%.
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3 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
Steven Pals As regulatory expectations evolve, borrower demands shift and the digital transformation of financial services accelerates, mortgage servicers are being forced to re-examine not just the systems they use, but how those systems interact. In today’s business climate, it’s absolutely necessary for servicers to leverage technology and platforms that offer seamless, real-time integration that drives operational efficiency, data security and desired customer experiences.
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4 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
The share of homes considered equity-rich dropped to 46.2% in the first quarter, down from 47.7% in the fourth quarter, while the rate of seriously underwater homes ticked up slightly, according to ATTOM’s U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. The firm defines “equity rich” as meaning the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market value.
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4 days ago | 
mortgageorb.com | Patrick Barnard
Reid Herlihy Reid Herlihy has joined the mortgage regulatory practice at Mitchell Sandler, a boutique financial services law firm founded in 2019 by a group of prominent Buckley Sandler lawyers, as a partner. In addition, Seth Waxman has joined the firm as a partner, Sean Hennessy has joined as counsel, and Chloé Dolsenhe has joined as an associate. Herlihy joins the firm from Ballard Spahr, bringing 14 years of experience on mortgage regulatory matters.
