To truly experience the most powerful room in housing, reserve your spot now to join us at The Gathering 2025. However, if you want a glimpse into what that room looks like in action, we compiled a handful of our sessions from this year’s event to share on demand. These select videos from our event […]
Dallas-based Certainty Home Lending, an affiliate of Guaranteed Rate, named Shadi Kamran as its new national business development executive. Kamran is based in Los Angeles and will support Certainty’s strategy and sales performance. “Our comprehensive product suite offers solutions for virtually every mortgage and home financing need,” Kamran said in a statement. “The technologically advanced […]
Mortgage fraud risk saw a modest uptick toward the end of 2023, according to CoreLogic’s latest Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index, although it remained largely stable on a year-over-year basis. The index reached 127 in Q4 2023, marking a 2.7% increase from the previous quarter, but compared to Q4 2022, the index decreased by 1%. Despite […]
The average cost for a retail mortgage lender to originate a loan reached $11,600 in the third quarter of 2023, up 35% — or nearly $3,000 per loan — when compared to fourth-quarter 2020, a period of low interest rates and high sales volume, according to a study published Tuesday by Freddie Mac. But the […]
In late 2023, just before the calendar turned, the financial markets were pricing in six Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2024. After all, inflation had cooled and the Fed appeared to be gearing up to land the plane. For a few weeks, mortgage loan officers told HousingWire reporters that they were quoting some prospective borrowers […]
Online real estate auction marketplace Xome is launching a DIY sales platform for investors. Platform users will not need to use a real estate agent to complete their transaction, according to an announcement from the firm on Wednesday. Xome is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Mr. Cooper Group that provides mortgage servicers with end-to-end […]
Connecticut-based lender, servicer and asset manager Planet Home Lending has appointed Bill Shuler as executive vice president and chief information officer. In his new role, Shuler will focus on Planet’s technological growth and enhancements to its operational efficiency. “My focus has always been on creating pragmatic IT solutions that support dynamic business growth, and I am […]
The reverse mortgage industry is no stranger to novel marketing campaigns, and it has often made use of celebrity spokespeople to drum up conversation about its products. While consistency can count for a lot when it comes to marketing and messaging, novelty can also be a path toward greater engagement. New American Funding (NAF) is […]
Sandra Ho, a managing director at JPMorgan Chase, will join Wells Fargo next week as its head of home lending sales, Wells Fargo said in a statement Monday. It is a newly created role, and Ho will lead Wells Fargo’s consumer direct and distributed sales forces. She will report to Serhat Oztop, head of sales […]
Mortgage rates continued on their downward path as HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conforming loans at 7.34% on Tuesday, below the rate of 7.43% one week ago. At the same time one year ago, the 30-year average rate was 6.66%. Meanwhile, the 15-year conforming fixed rate averaged 6.71% on Tuesday, […]
After two years of limited demand, private equity and insurance companies are increasing their allocations to single family residential mortgages. This increased flow of funds appears to be driven by strengthening macro factors that favor residential mortgages over other yield assets such as commercial real estate (CRE) and commercial (C&I) loans. These strong fund flows […]
NEXA Mortgage, the largest mortgage brokerage firm in the U.S., will pay its loan officers 100% of the commission splits “without any per-file fees or other hidden fees,” according to co-founder and CEO Mike Kortas. NEXA usually pays loan officers 220 basis points (bps) out of 275 bps on most loans. However, moving forward, it […]
Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is aware that some loan officers are taking creative — and, as detailed in a recent HousingWire investigation, often illegal — approaches to winning business. And he would be willing to reexamine the decade-old rule that prohibits LOs from misclassifying lead sources to lower their […]
California-based multichannel lender and servicer PennyMac Financial Services announced on Monday a proposed private offering of a $650 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes that the company says it will pay back with interest by 2030. The notes will “be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on an unsecured senior basis” by the company’s existing businesses, […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday published a new version of its Single Family Housing Handbook 4000.1, which includes numerous updates to its guidance for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program overseen by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). “Today’s update clarifies instructions, adds new guidance, and incorporates previously published […]
Buying into homeownership is already challenging enough for many Americans, but keeping — and maintaining — a home can come with serious challenges as a person gets older. This may lead an older homeowner to consider a product like a reverse mortgage, but potential borrowers should be aware of the product’s details and the informational […]
Proof, the remote online notarization (RON) platform formerly known as Notarize, has welcomed Pennsylvania notaries into its Notarize Network, the company announced earlier this month. Previously, Pennsylvania’s notaries could access Proof’s platform via its in-house notary capabilities for enterprises and notary-sourced transactions. With this expansion, Pennsylvania notaries now join their counterparts from Florida, Nevada, Texas […]
A recently released report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that identifies vulnerabilities at nonbank mortgage servicers and makes some recommendations to avoid systemic risk is a ”tall order” for state regulators but isn’t only a ”wishful list,” according to Jason Cave, senior consultant at Patomak Global Partners. Cave spent nearly three decades in […]
New listings data has been moving lower over the last few weeks. I usually wouldn’t care too much about this as its a data line that can be volatile week to week but now it’s been three weeks. The moves haven’t been significant and our weekly pending contracts data picked up this week. But, we […]
Chase Home Lending, the consumer and commercial banking arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., has raised its closing guarantee from $5,000 to $20,000 until July 27, 2024, the bank announced on Thursday. The guarantee means that the bank promises an on-time closing on or before the contract closing date, or it will pay the homebuyer $20,000. […]
The East Coast and Midwest stand out as prime locations for veterans and current military service members, according to the 2024 Best Cities for Veterans to Live list compiled by Veterans United Home Loans. Tampa emerged as the top metro area for veterans. It was followed by Rochester, Minnesota; Wichita Falls, Texas; Fargo, North Dakota; […]
Financial planners are an important referral source for reverse mortgage professionals, and Finance of America (FOA) vice president of retirement strategies Steve Resch has been at the head of the company’s conversations with planners to help them understand how much utility a reverse mortgage could have for improving a client’s retirement. In this second part […]
The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) this week announced that Jonathan Scarpati, senior vice president of wholesale production at Finance of America (FOA), has joined its board of directors for the remainder of the 2024 term. Scarpati is a 20-year reverse mortgage industry veteran, having joined Senior Lending Network in 2003 as vice president […]
About two months after resigning as the 18th secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Marcia Fudge has joined law firm Taft as a partner and chair of public policy, the company announced this week. Fudge will “dedicate a portion of her time to the firm’s ongoing efforts to combat the […]
Donald R. Horton, founder and chairman of D.R. Horton, the largest homebuilder by volume in the U.S., has died at the age of 74, the company announced on Friday morning. Board members have named David V. Auld as executive chairman, effective immediately. Horton, who was involved in the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1972, […]
Mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group has merged with Teraverde, a mortgage advisory firm and technology solutions provider, in a deal that the companies say will allow them to expand the markets they serve and the depth of services provided. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both firms will operate under the Stratmor brand, […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has launched a new service to handle all the title work for its brokers on refinancings. As a result, brokers no longer need to deal with a title company or settlement agent to close a refi. The top U.S. mortgage lender announced the service on Thursday during an annual meeting with its […]
Across all states, California poses the highest risk of bankruptcy for Americans ages 65 and older, according to a study released by personal finance website Moneywise. The study analyzed 11 factors to determine which states put elderly U.S. citizens at the greatest risk of bankruptcy. It determined each state’s risk of bankruptcy by assigning a […]
Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with Sridhar Sharma, executive vice president and chief information officer at Mr. Cooper, to talk about how the company is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase productivity while making their customers happier. Sarah Wheeler: You came into the mortgage space about nine years ago after leading […]
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit proposed creating a national director to oversee housing policies and address the “regulatory knots” that “sap the country’s economic strength.” This czar, called the “National Housing Policy Director,” would be directly located in the White House, accountable to the President, and able to spot – and […]
Older voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania are poised to make their presence — and preferences — felt in the upcoming fall elections that will determine control of the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Chief on their minds are issues that include Social Security and aging in place. […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday announced that the Biden administration has approved a record $1.1 billion in funding for the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program, and an additional $75 million funding opportunity for the Indian Community Development Block (ICDBG) program to “support housing and community development projects.” The […]
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Wednesday released a plan that it says would “modernize” Ginnie Mae, the government-owned company that manages the securitization of government-sponsored loans. The CHLA argues that Ginnie Mae has not been given sufficient budget authority by the congressional appropriations process despite the value it generates. Its plan takes […]
Mortgage demand ticked up last week as interest rates declined for a second week in a row. Applications increased by 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending May 10, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. “Treasury yields continued to move lower last week and mortgage rates declined […]
VantageScore has released a pilot of its latest credit-scoring model, VantageScore 4 Plus, for banks, fintechs and government lenders. The new model combines alternate open banking data with traditional credit data, which it claims gives lenders a “substantial predictive lift of up to 10% compared to the industry leading VantageScore 4.0 credit score, which itself […]
This is an excerpt of a HousingWire Research white paper titled: What Everyone Needs to Know about Mortgage Rate Lock-in, by Altos President Mike Simonsen. In the 24 months beginning March 2022, the U.S. housing market saw dramatic changes in affordability as mortgage rates skyrocketed 500 basis points. After an initial rush to get to […]
The most anticipated economic report of the month showed that inflation cooled down a little in April, bringing relief to investors and housing industry professionals. Consumer prices in April were up 3.4% from a year earlier, down from 3.5% in March, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. The reading, […]
Steve Resch, vice president of retirement strategies at leading reverse mortgage industry lender Finance of America, knows a lot about the intersection between the interests of financial planning professionals and reverse mortgage industry members. Financial planners have been, and remain, one of the most sought-after referral partnerships for reverse mortgage professionals to establish ties with. […]
While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) exists to facilitate the needs that Americans have for housing — needs that are challenged by affordability, inventory, mortgage rates and more — recent policies of the Biden administration have hindered affordability by focusing on climate-related housing issues instead of costs. This is according to […]
Atlas VMS, the appraisal and valuation company led by Erik Morin, announced this week the appointment of Joe Pravettone as chief appraiser. The company describes the hire as a “significant addition” to its leadership team. Pravettone began his valuation career roughly 25 years ago, starting as an independent fee appraiser and ultimately working for both […]
As the U.S. reaches its peak homebuying season, mortgage rates continue to ease week over week. HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conforming loans at 7.45% on Tuesday, below the rate of 7.51% one week ago. At the same time one year ago, the average rate was 6.54%.The 15-year conforming […]
Better Home & Finance Holding Co., the parent of digital lender Better, strongly improved its mortgage production and revenues in the first three months of 2024. But expenses continued to increase and the company remained unprofitable during the period. Better posted a net loss of $51.5 million from January to March, up from a loss […]
It’s an election year, and housing affordability appears to be a big concern for voters. So, it’s not surprising to see the administration and members of Congress announcing big ticket legislative initiatives to boost homeownership – like a 1st time homebuyer tax credit and the Neighborhood Investment Act to fix up older homes. The Community […]
FinLocker, the St. Louis-based developer of a leading white-label financial fitness and homeownership platform, announced the closure of a $17 million Series B funding round on Tuesday. The investment from Radian Group and existing shareholders will enable FinLocker to introduce a suite of new features and tools designed to optimize the homebuying and homeownership experience. […]
In 2023, home purchases slowed across the board due to low levels of inventory, high mortgage rates and soaring home prices. Simultaneously, the appetite for second homes also diminished substantially. Nationwide, 90,772 mortgages for second homes were originated in 2023, down 40% from a year earlier and down 65% from the height of the post-pandemic […]