The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week published a report assessing the performance of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in reaching their single-family housing goals. The CBO found that the GSEs “met or exceeded” nearly all goals over a four-year period from 2018 to 2022. The CBO analyzed data from the Federal […]
Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) as a group expanded their profitability in the third quarter of 2024. But fewer companies recorded profits compared to the previous quarter, despite a brief dip in mortgage rates. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), IMBs and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported an average pretax net profit of $701 per […]
CrossCountry Mortgage, a top-10 U.S. mortgage lender, has hired a team of former Pennymac Financial Services executives to lead its capital markets and investment-related activities. On Wednesday, CCM announced Vandad Fartaj as the chief investment officer, William Chang as chief capital markets officer, and Tom Rettinger as chief portfolio risk officer. The team will develop […]
One of the greatest gifts you can give to your organization—and to the people within it—is the opportunity to grow into leadership. In the mortgage industry, where change is constant and challenges can be relentless, strong leadership isn’t just a competitive advantage; it’s the foundation that keeps teams grounded and resilient. Imagine a culture where […]
Reverse mortgage educators Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn brought their “Rules of the Game” presentation back to this year’s National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego. After starting with the importance of focused information and certain reverse mortgage product features, the pair went deeper into other longstanding elements that […]
Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, paid a reported $14 million to acquire the domain name Rocket.com. The purchase, which was initially reported by DomainInvesting.com, was said to be from defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. Rumors of the deal began in early September. The transaction was referenced in a recent filing by L3Harris with […]
For the first time in seven weeks, mortgage demand rose as applications were up 0.5% during the week ending Nov. 8, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday. Purchase loan demand drove the slight increase in the MBA’s Market Composite Index, which measures loan application volumes. The purchase index rose 2% from the prior week […]
Better Home & Finance Holding Co., the parent of digital lender Better, reported a net loss of $54.1 million in the third quarter of 2024 during an earnings call on Tuesday. By comparison, the company lost $41.4 million in Q2 2024 and $353.9 million in Q3 2023. Better reported third-quarter revenue of $29 million, down […]
With fluctuating mortgage rates and economic pressure in the housing market, foreclosure activity ramped up in October 2024. According to real estate data provider Attom, homebuyers may face more challenges heading into 2025. Attom released its October 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report on Tuesday. It showed that 30,784 properties had foreclosure filings last month. That’s […]
In a new episode of “The Loan Officer Podcast,” host Dustin Owen chats with John Cornish of Iowa-based Key Mortgage Group about his path into the industry, tips for scaling a mortgage lending business and how to avoid stagnation as a loan originator. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To kick off […]
Detroit-based Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, saw its strategy of investing in technology and expanding its servicing portfolio start to pay off in the third quarter of 2024. It originated $28.5 billion in loans during the period — up 28% year over year. Short-lived relief in mortgage rates led to a double-digit increase […]
Bill Pulte, the philanthropist and CEO of Pulte Capital — and who shares a name with his grandfather, the founder of Atlanta-based homebuilder PulteGroup — is reportedly under consideration for the post of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary in the new Trump administration, according to a report from the New York […]
Cornerstone Financing, a venture co-founded by former Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF) CEO Craig Corn, has secured $285 million in financing through global investment firms Aquiline Capital Partners LP and Nomura. The funding will go to support the company’s specialty home equity-tapping product known as the Cornerstone Home Equity Insurance/Investment Funding Solutions (CHEIFS). The product operates […]
Downpayment assistance programs are available to first-time homebuyers across the country in the form of more than 2,400 such offerings at the local and state levels, but they have not had an appreciable impact on the level of U.S. homeownership. This is why a zero-down Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage would be a more viable […]
The election of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States has brought mortgage rates closer to the 7% threshold, but Fitch Ratings expects them to settle lower in the coming months. Looking ahead to 2025, analysts from the credit ratings agency expect declining rates to increase mortgage origination volumes, driving profitability for nonbank […]
While 2024 was certainly a challenging year for the real estate industry, 2025 may be a doozy if the Counselors of Real Estate’s (CRE) 2025 Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate report is to be believed. From price expectations to the impact of a Trump presidency, uncertainty is the main driver of today’s market. The […]
New York-based digital mortgage lender Better.com launched a streamline refinance loan product on Monday that aims to help military veterans and service members save money on long-term interest expenses and closing costs. Better is now offering the well-known Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL) through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The product is […]
Zillow is moving full speed ahead with an ambitious expansion of its mortgage business, leveraging its housing tech innovations to potentially reshape how modern homebuyers finance homes. In its third-quarter earnings report, Zillow Home Loans revealed an impressive data point: mortgage revenue increased 63% year over year in the third quarter to $39 million, which […]
The newly-updated Fannie Mae Selling Guide for November has aimed to modernize special property eligibility and underwriting considerations for leasehold estates, and it has revised the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE)’s project review requirements for properties secured by manufactured homes. The Selling Guide has also updated requirements “related to the market area analysis of the appraisal report […]
Following the resounding election victory of Donald Trump this week and the retaking of the U.S. Senate by the Republican Party, retirement and tax policy could be significantly impacted following the transfer of power, according to the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA). A political majority in the U.S. House of Representatives remains unclear, but […]
Praising tariffs as “the greatest thing ever invented“ is unusual — that title is typically reserved for for sliced bread — but Donald Trump has always been vocal about his trade policies. An impending return to the White House for Trump could raise U.S. homebuilding costs as his proposed tariffs would likely increase prices for […]
Government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae announced on Thursday the appointment of Scott D. Stowell, a homebuilding executive with nearly 40 years of industry experience, to its board of directors. “Mr. Stowell brings nearly 40 years of experience in the U.S. homebuilding industry to Fannie Mae’s accomplished and diverse board, which guides the company’s efforts to responsibly […]
In second-quarter 2024, high home prices and soaring mortgage rates caused more homeowners to struggle with their loan payments. But data shows a slight recovery as mortgage delinquencies fell in the third quarter. That silver lining comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s National Delinquency Survey. According to the MBA, the seasonally adjusted rate for […]
Guild Mortgage CEO Terry Schmidt said during a third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that Guild’s reverse mortgage division continues to contribute to companywide strategies, and that additional interest in reverse has been observed. Guild’s current reverse lending division, built off its 2023 acquisition of Cherry Creek Mortgage, has expanded its reverse mortgage activities this year. […]
After delivering two straight quarterly losses to start this year, mortgage technology company Blend Labs predicted correctly that it would soon move into the black by one key accounting measure, finally delivering a non-GAAP operating profitability third-quarter 2024 earnings. The earnings report, released Wednesday, revealed that Blend’s GAAP loss from operations improved to $13.3 million […]
One day after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, officials at the Federal Reserve announced their decision to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.5% to 4.75%, a move that aligned with market expectations. The reduction, made public on Thursday afternoon, was more modest than […]
Ginnie Mae announced on Thursday that it will allow relief from its risk-based capital ratio (RBCR) requirements for any mortgage-backed securities (MBS) issuers that effectively hedge the value of their mortgage servicing rights (MSRs). One housing advocacy group said the move will create flexibility for independent mortgage banks (IMBs). A new memorandum reiterates that beginning […]
When rates dropped in the third quarter of 2024, UWM Holdings Corp., the parent of United Wholesale Mortgage, notched its biggest production quarter in three years while improving margins due to a higher refi volume. However, it also made a more modest profit, mainly because of the financial impact of lower rates on its servicing […]
Climate change is increasing the intensity and severity of natural disasters. It’s resulting in calls to reimagine the costs of homeowners insurance (Image generated by AI in Midjourney) As the planet warms and extreme weather intensifies, the rising cost of homeowners insurance is stopping real estate deals in their tracks. In just the past two […]
A stagnant housing market hasn’t held back Zillow’s mortgage business. On its third-quarter earnings call Wednesday evening, the real estate portal giant reported that its mortgage revenue rose 63% year over year, driven by an 80% jump in purchase origination volume. Compared to the first nine months of 2023, Zillow’s origination channel revenue grew 41% […]
Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO), the company that retains the rights to the market’s widely adopted consumer credit-risk assessment methodology, announced on Wednesday that it has increased its wholesale royalty from $3.50 to $4.95 per score for mortgage originators. “At this new per-score royalty, the amount collected by FICO will remain a small percentage of the […]
Jim Cory, managing director of reverse mortgages at Guild Mortgage, has been in the industry for the better part of three decades. He is a longtime member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), and he was recently elected as its co-chair alongside Mike Kent of PHH Mortgage Corp. Cory first joined the association […]
Mortgage professionals can expect a transformed regulatory environment for the financial sector as Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. This includes an increased likelihood of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being released from conservatorship along with immediate shifts in agency leadership, analysts said. “Trump win is a regulatory game changer that likely includes […]
A lot has been said during this election cycle about housing affordability as a potential difference-maker, with both major party presidential candidates giving more attention to housing issues than in other recent campaigns. But now that the results have largely been tabulated, voters appeared to back more basic economic concerns rather than issues related to […]
Mortgage demand declined for a sixth straight week on the back of higher mortgage rates, according to weekly applications survey data published Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Applications dropped 10.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending Nov. 1. Demand has plummeted 41% since the last increase in applications during the […]
loanDepot achieved profitability in the third quarter of 2024, ending an 11-quarter streak of financial losses. Cost reductions and revenue growth drove this turnaround amid lower interest rates, which boosted refinancing activity. As a result, loanDepot is retiring its Vision 2025 strategic plan, which began in July 2022 to help the company reduce its non-volume […]
Onity Group, the recently rebranded parent company of top-10 lender Liberty Reverse Mortgage, posted improved earnings results in the third quarter of the year — with particular attention given to the profitability of its forward and reverse mortgage servicing segments. Onity CEO Glen Messina led the Tuesday morning earnings call by saying that the company […]
It’s a big week for the U.S. economy as the 2024 election takes place and monetary policymakers are meeting to decide what to do next about interest rates. For mortgage professionals who’ve been dealing with uncertainty of late, more clarity could soon emerge. Mortgage rates have been rising quickly in recent weeks, dashing hopes for […]
Credit rating agency Fitch announced this week that its long-term issuer default rating for Finance of America was downgraded to “restricted default” status following its recently publicized debt exchange plan. The rating was then upgraded to “CCC” following the completion of the exchange agreement. Fitch explained its rationale for the whipsaw of ratings by characterizing […]
I remember in 2007 when I told a neighbor I was about to become a loan officer. I had been working at Washington Mutual for a few months when I was offered the opportunity to go into a mentorship under the two top loan officers in the county. She looked me dead in the eyes and […]
Reverse mortgage industry performance metrics have been trading gains and losses for several months now, but a more favorable interest rate environment and optimism about the possible trajectory of business in 2025 have arrived alongside some generally positive news for October. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements increased by 11.1% from September to October, with […]
Global credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS last week assigned a “good” rating to reverse mortgage industry leader Finance of America (FOA), confirming the ranking the company was assigned this past summer ahead of its earnings call this week. The rating is officially classified as “MOR RVO2” by Morningstar. The agency once more noted the recent […]
The 2024 general election in the United States is on Tuesday, and will decide the balance of power between the two major political parties in our system of government. At the top of the ballot, the presidential race between Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump pits two […]
The HousingWire award spotlight series highlights the individuals and organizations that have been recognized through our Editors’ Choice Awards. Nominations for HousingWire’s 2025 Tech100 Award are open now through December 16, 2024. Click here to nominate a tech organization. As technology continues to rapidly reshape nearly every aspect of real estate and mortgage, HousingWire’s Tech100 award has […]
With mortgage rates back into the 7% range and several consecutive weeks of reduced demand, Rocket Mortgage is making what appears to be a volume play. The third party origination (TPO) division of Rocket Mortgage on Monday announced the rollout of its latest product, 24 Takeoff, which allows mortgage broker partners to receive a 24 […]