US home lenders see leaner times ahead

NEW YORK: US mortgage lenders are bracing for rockier times as consumers demand for home loans slows and competition in the mortgage industry intensifies, Fannie Mae’s latest quarterly survey released on Monday showed. Some lenders are worried about a squeeze on their profit margin, but the number of them has fallen since the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the 184 mortgage executives who responded to the survey. In a response to a tougher climate, more lenders said they plan to relax their lending standards, which could attract more borrowers, survey data showed. — Reuters