Origination

Staying on top of mortgage origination news may be more important right now than ever. The mortgage industry has faced more than its fair share of challenges throughout 2022, with higher than average mortgage rates leading to dwindling interest from potential borrowers. In turn, the great mortgage bank consolidation has been underway, and a number of other seismic shifts in the industry have occurred as well.

These types of changes are expected to continue through at least the first half of 2023, although there is optimism that the industry may see improvement in the second half of the year. As a mortgage origination professional, you can stay up to date on the news you need with the extensive mortgage origination coverage published by HousingWire.

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Affordability for first-time homebuyers: Beyond rates and prices

Oct 31, 2025By Hector Amendola

We’ve all heard the refrain: it’s never been harder to buy your first home. The narrative almost always circles back to two usual suspects – mortgage rates and home prices. While rates and prices are undeniably visible and powerful levers, they are not the whole story.

For industry insiders, the challenge (and the opportunity) lies in understanding the layered, less visible forces shaping affordability for today’s first-time homebuyers. The truth is that affordability isn’t shaped only by where rates land or how quickly prices climb; it’s increasingly a function of a borrower’s balance sheet, monthly cash flow and income, which all factor into debt-to-income ratios (DTI) and ultimately getting approved for a loan.