Nonconforming or non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) rate lock volumes recorded strong monthly and yearly gains in May, a sign of resilient demand for home loans that do not meet traditional underwriting guidelines.
As market share for conforming mortgages underwritten to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines remained below 50% for the second consecutive month, non-QM lock volumes hit 18.7% — just shy of the 19% share for locks on government-insured, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.
On the non-QM side, that reflects an increase of 148 basis points from April, 227 basis points from March and 229 basis points from a year ago, according to hedging and market intelligence platform Optimal Blue, which published rate-lock activity for May ...