Stocks fell Thursday as Russian troops launched a full-scale attack in Ukraine, and at least in the short-term, the turmoil could lower mortgage rates in the U.S. During large-scale disruptions, investors often flee to safer options, such as U.S. Treasury notes, bonds and mortgage-backed securities. All things being equal, that dynamic tends to put downward […]
Despite a 1.6% drop in U.S.-based agent count and a net loss of $15.6 million in 2021, RE/MAX Holding Inc., executives were positive about the Denver-based franchisor’s performance during the firm’s fourth quarter earnings call with investors on Thursday, thanks to RE/MAX’s organic revenue growth. During 2021, RE/MAX generated $329.7 million in total revenue, up […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is working to expand the COVID-19 loss mitigation program to include the option of a 40-year loan modification with a partial claim, an acknowledgement that some borrowers exiting forbearance are still facing financial challenges. Julienne Joseph, deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Single-Family Housing for FHA at the U.S. […]
Willie Newman ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”706″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?w=1024″ alt=”HW+ Willie Newman” class=”wp-image-329916″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=150,88 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=300,177 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=768,452 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=1024,602 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-Willie-Newman.png?resize=600,353 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Home Point Capital CEO Willie Newman Home Point Capital, the parent company of wholesale lender Homepoint, turned a $19.3 million profit in the fourth quarter, a sequential decline […]
The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.89% for the week ending Feb. 24, down three basis points from the prior week, according to Freddie Mac‘s latest mortgage survey. “Even with this week’s decline, mortgage rates have increased more than a full percent over the last six months,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Overall […]
Mortgage applications decreased 13.1% for the week ending Feb. 18 to the lowest level since December 2019, as mortgage rates eclipsed the 4% mark. The Mortgage Bankers Association‘s seasonally adjusted refi index fell 15.6% from the previous week, bringing its share of total applications to almost equal the purchases share at 50%. Meanwhile, the purchase […]
Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume continued to drop in January, but some borrowers exiting plans are still facing financial challenges. The total number of loans in forbearance decreased by 11 basis points, from 1.41% in December to 1.30% in January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In total, about 650,000 homeowners were in forbearance plans as of January 31. […]
Nonbank mortgage servicer Ocwen agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit regarding alleged phone conversations recorded without clients’ consent. Plaintiff Gregory Franklin filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in 2018. He claimed that the company violated California’s Invasion of Privacy Act by recording outgoing […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) now has a Senate-confirmed inspector general, a corporate compliance expert who hails from the private sector. Brian Tomney, who the Senate confirmed by voice vote Thursday evening, most recently led the office of corporate investigations at Capital One. In that role he oversaw a team of researchers to investigate […]
Mortgage applications for new homes stalled in January, dipping by 12.5% year-over-year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey published this week. The trade group noted that the survey results showed the slowest annual pace since July 2021. However, from December 2021 to January, purchase applications grew, with a 10% month-over-month gain recorded by MBA’s […]
Anthony Hsieh, the CEO and founder of loanDepot, has the tricky task of trying to convince analysts and investors that the mortgage lender will gain market share and remain profitable in arguably the most competitive mortgage market ever. To demonstrate that he genuinely believes loanDepot will prevail, loanDepot’s founder and largest shareholder is putting his […]
Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, Fairway Wholesale Lending and the American Warrior Initiative (AWI) wrapped up last year by granting 16 service dogs to 16 veterans in a timespan of less than one hour. The presentations were part of the American Warrior Initiative’s mission to bridge the military-civilian divide by bringing awareness to civilians all over […]
Potential homebuyers seeking Freddie Mac-backed mortgages will no longer have to hunt for paper pay stubs to verify their income. Freddie Mac announced on Wednesday that it will roll out an automated process that allows mortgage lenders to assess a prospective homebuyer’s direct deposit income. Freddie Mac claims this would reduce the paper documentation burden […]
The performance of loan pools backing private-label securitization deals has continued to improve across most measurement metrics through the end of January after hitting a low point in mid-2020 at the height of the pandemic. The most recent RMBS Credit Indices report from the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) shows that loan pools supporting outstanding […]
The Federal Housing Administration announced this week that lenders have an additional year before they must submit appraisals through the FHA Catalyst: EAD Module. Per a mortgagee letter published on Tuesday, the deadline to onboard for lenders has been moved to March 14, 2023. The previous deadline, announced in mid- 2021, was March 14, 2022. […]
The mortgage servicing rights market took off like a rocket in January and it has continued to accelerate into the stratosphere in February, according to industry experts who follow the MSR market closely. About $180 billion in residential bulk MSR assets were brought to market just in the month of January, “and February will be […]
In today’s competitive real estate market, an increasing number of real estate investors are turning to private money lenders to help them close deals faster, enhance property valuations, and increase their returns. The problem with private money lenders is that good ones are hard to come by. Let’s look at what private money lenders do […]
Mortgage applications decreased 5.4% for the week ending Feb. 11, reflecting what the mortgage market looks like when rates eclipse 4% for the first time since 2019. The Mortgage Bankers Association‘s seasonally adjusted refi index fell 8.9% from the previous week, bringing its share of total applications to the lowest level in 19 months. Meanwhile, the purchase index dropped […]
Danny Yen, who masterminded a fraudulent continuing education scheme involving hundreds of loan officers, has agreed to settle with state financial regulators for $75,000. In a settlement with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), Maryland’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, Danny Yen, the […]
Fannie Mae reported its overall net income increased in 2021 to $22.2 billion, an increase of $10.4 billion compared to 2020, largely due to the growth of its single-family business. Net revenue increased $4.6 billion to $29.9 billion in 2021, mostly driven by higher guaranty fee income, including that generated by the 50 basis point […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission uncovered a total of 487 instances over the past six years in which the nation’s SEC-registered credit-rating agencies were deemed by agency staff to be in non-compliance with federal securities laws or related SEC rules, a recent SEC staff report reveals. The bulk of the violations, which were uncovered during mandated […]
Nearly a year after a federal judge dismissed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau‘s mortgage servicing misconduct suit against Ocwen Financial Corp., the watchdog agency is hoping to overturn the decision. During oral arguments in Miami before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Lawrence DeMille-Wagman, CFPB’s attorney, argued that a consent agreement from […]
Freddie Mac has named former Wells Fargo deputy general counsel Heidi Mason its new general counsel. Mason will assume the role March 7, and will replace Jerry Weiss, who has been general counsel on an interim basis since March 2021. Weiss will continue to serve as Freddie Mac’s senior executive liaison to its conservator, the […]
Some mortgage rate indices topped 4% on Thursday, blowing past predictions that rates might reach those levels by the end of 2022. Economists had predicted rates would rise as the overall economy stabilized. The latest mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac puts rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.69%, while the average rate in […]
Maryland has over a dozen Eastern European stores that sell products like caviar, pumpernickel bread and salo, a Ukrainian-style bacon. Apart from selling produce that is popular in former Soviet countries, these stores represent a marketing opportunity for Alex Naumovych, a loan officer at Draper and Kramer Mortgage Corporation. Just before a customer buys a […]
Source: Polygon Research, CPSVision, Veterans Supplement August 2020 Loan originators can educate themselves about the Veterans with service-related disability in their communities and markets and look for opportunities to provide high quality education and financing in an efficient and transparent manner. Broadening the scope to include all Veterans within a certain age range regardless of disability status, we estimate that about 4 million Veterans are under the age of 50, with […]
Mr. Cooper, one of the nation’s top servicers, and Sagent, a loan servicing software developer, announced on Friday that they will join forces to create a cloud-native servicing platform. The definitive agreement reached by both parties stipulates that Mr. Cooper will sell certain intellectual property rights related to its proprietary, cloud-based technology platform for mortgage […]
Back in August, Christian Wallace spoke effusively about her future at Better.com. The digital lender generated so much money through mortgage refinancing that it bankrolled a formidable real estate division. And Wallace, a former Sotheby’s agent and Opendoor manager, was charged with ensuring the division blossomed. But on Thursday, Wallace said that she gave Better […]
Zillow CEO Rich Barton. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”713″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?w=1024″ alt=”Rich Barton – HW+” class=”wp-image-297256″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?resize=150,89 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?resize=300,178 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?resize=768,456 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?resize=1024,608 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rih-Barton-HW.jpg?resize=600,357 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Zillow CEO Rich Barton. When Zillow stunned the housing world last November by announcing a wind down of its iBuying program – and beginning the […]
Reverse mortgage software solutions and loan origination system (LOS) provider ReverseVision announced on Thursday morning that it has been acquired by a division of Toronto-based Constellation Software, a holding company that bought another mortgage LOS in 2019. Staff at San Diego-based ReverseVision was informed of the sale this morning. Terms of the deal were not […]
Freddie Mac reported a net income of $12.1 billion for 2021, a 65% increase from 2020. The government-sponsored enterprise saw a 20% growth in its single-family mortgage portfolio from 2020 to 2021, driven by soaring home prices and an increase in the average size of loans it acquired. Freddie Mac’s net worth is now $28 […]
Mill Valley, California-based Redwood Trust Inc. (NYSE: RWT) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter 2021 net income of $44 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, matching the Zacks consensus EPS estimate for the quarter. The earnings were off the company’s fourth-quarter 2020 mark of $54.3 million and down from third-quarter 2021 earnings of $88.3 million. Still, the Mill Valley-California real estate investment […]
The average 30-year-fixed rate mortgage climbed to 3.69% for the week ending Feb. 3, up eight basis points from the previous week. It’s the highest level since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS Mortgage Survey. Before the uptick, the rates remained flat at 3.55% for three weeks, reflecting the impact of […]
While the real estate industry has witnessed the introduction of a number of spectacular and innovative developments in recent years, we still (sometimes unfairly) get tagged as “old fashioned” or “conservative.” This is especially true on the financial services side when it comes to transferring money for real estate. There’s really no experience quite like […]
Mortgage applications decreased 8.1% from the previous week, a response to an uptick in mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey for the week ending Feb. 4. The seasonally adjusted refi index fell 7.3% while the purchase index dropped 9.6%. Compared to the same week one year ago, mortgage apps overall dropped 39.6%, with a sharp decline in […]
Fannie Mae this week unveiled its 24th sale of reperforming loans since its first offering in 2016. The current deal is composed of more than 8,000 mortgages with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $1.3 billion. The sale of reperforming loans (RPLs) is being marketed in collaboration with Citigroup Global Markets, with bids due by […]
Newport Beach, California-based Excelerate Capital, a long-time non-QM lender with a growing market presence, finalized its acquisition of Castle Mortgage Corp. in early 2021 as part of a larger plan to expand its origination reach beyond California — with the goal of creating a national lending footprint. That plan is now in full motion and, if successful, will […]
Desktop appraisals arrived in March of 2020, allowing the housing market to keep humming while many stayed indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Allowing appraisals without a walk-through was one of several flexibilities the Federal Housing Finance Agency allowed in light of the pandemic. Use of desktop or exterior-only appraisals peaked in April 2020, […]
Powerhouse lender and servicer New Residential Investment Corp. has reduced hundreds of job positions in its mortgage division, less than a year after acquiring the multichannel lender Caliber Home Loans. In total, NewRez LLC, the publicly traded company’s mortgage arm, is laying off 386 employees, about 3% of the division’s workforce, a company spokesperson confirmed […]
Larry Goldstone is tired of being ghosted. He is used to it by now, but the problem has only gotten worse since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Goldstone has tried contact via phone calls and emails consistently. If necessary, he even knocks on doors — without success. He has talked openly about it but […]
#2022 ” data-image-caption=” Home equity, property value ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”700″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?w=1024″ alt=”2022 Home equity” class=”wp-image-335167″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?resize=150,88 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?resize=300,175 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?resize=768,448 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?resize=1024,597 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_homeequity.png?resize=600,350 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>San Francisco-based fintech firm Unison plans several securitization deals to market in 2022, with private label offerings backed by home-equity assets. San Francisco-based […]
Pink slips will start arriving for Santander Bank’s employees working in the mortgage and home equity businesses following the bank’s announcement to stop originating such loans in the United States. In Pennsylvania, the company announced 53 permanent layoffs with effective date on April 8, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) sent to the […]
Few things terrify lenders more than the arrival of a manila envelope from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) containing a redlining allegation. In recent months, HUD investigators have made redlining cases a departmental priority, according to interviews with attorneys who have reviewed the complaints, and lenders who declined to comment on the […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is making good on its threat to take legal action against partnering broker shops that also send business to Rocket Mortgage and Fairway Independent Mortgage, a violation of the wholesaler’s controversial broker agreement. UWM filed a lawsuit in Michigan federal court late Thursday that claims America’s MoneyLine, a high-volume mortgage brokerage […]
California-based nonbank mortgage lender Pennymac Financial Services posted record loan production last year, but a significant decline in net profits. Reflecting the higher rate landscape, in the last three months of 2021, the servicing segment brought more returns to the company than production. The company reported a net income of $1 billion in 2021, […]