Mortgage rates little changed this week as investors assessed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s latest comments on rate hikes. To sum it up: a very strong labor market remains the main driver behind the Fed’s rate setting decisions and more tightening is still to come. The Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which focuses on conventional and conforming […]
loanDepot is accusing its competitor Movement Mortgage of damaging its business by hiring over 25 employees in three months and “effectively crippling” “now-depleted” branches. The poaching lawsuit, filed on June 22 at a federal district court in Delaware, states that South Carolina-based Movement recruited and hired its employees in late 2021 and early 2022 to take trade secrets […]
Most mortgage professionals have either started to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) or are at least aware of how it can be adopted to make the loan origination process more efficient. While it will take time to fully implement AI in the mortgage industry, the most practical use of AI in the mortgage process is document […]
California-based real estate investing platform Peer Street, Inc. and 14 affiliated debtors filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in a court in Delaware on Monday, citing a challenging mortgage market and struggles to raise capital with venture capital funds. “Through its bankruptcy filing, PeerStreet will seek to sell substantially all of […]
Roughly 80% of real estate investors surveyed are selling single-family homes at or above asking price after fully renovating the properties to make them habitable, according to a report from real estate marketplace New Western. “Investor sentiment is positive right now as they haven’t let the macroeconomic environment slow them down,” said Kurt Carlton, co-founder […]
This week, Fannie Mae published a new frequently asked questions (FAQ) document related to RefiNow, the refinancing product announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in 2021 that targets low-income borrowers with single-family mortgages backed by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Fannie Mae explains in the document that RefiNow products are not limited to the […]
The easy choices have already been made: the low performers left about 16 months ago, the travel budgets have been slashed, and struggling branches have been sold to competitors or unceremoniously closed. For the mortgage industry, more often it’s about making the very hard choices these days – exiting a channel, deciding which star performer to let […]
Purchase mortgage applications increased for the third consecutive week, reaching the highest level of activity since early May, in spite of the 30-year fixed rate increasing slightly to 6.75%. For the week that ended June 23, mortgage applications climbed 3% from the prior week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Purchase applications increased […]
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023,” legislation sponsored by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) that was designed to cancel controversial changes to loan-level pricing adjustments (LLPA). The LLPA changes were announced earlier this year by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The measure — which recently […]
A former high-ranking employee at nonbank The Change Company CDFI (TCC) filed a lawsuit in California accusing the company of retaliation after he notified executives of employees “mischaracterizing loans” to apparently skirt federal reporting requirements. The lawsuit, filed in Orange County, alleges that Adam Levine, the chief of staff to CEO Steven Sugarman, began reporting […]
New home sales in May rose 12.2% from April, which marks the third consecutive month of growth. Sales of new single‐family houses came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000, according to estimates released jointly Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 20% above […]
Automated mortgage technology provider Lender Toolkit announced this week that it has integrated with Reggora, an appraisal management software company that focuses on modernizing residential real estate valuations for mortgage lenders. “We’re elated to partner with Reggora’s modern appraisal management platform, which has a well-documented open API that makes integrations easy to maintain,” said Brent […]
As the mortgage industry continues to reduce capacity amid shrinking volumes, mortgage professionals are reluctant to spend on tech, services or solutions. According to HousingWire‘s Q3 2023 LenderPulse survey, industry workers said they would cut down on marketing spend and tools, as well as reduce additional headcount, if they had to further contain costs. About […]
After a winter of dire housing market forecasts, the housing market regained its footing this spring, with home prices rising month-over-month for the third consecutive month in April, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which was released Tuesday. These increases came after seven consecutive months of decline. “The index tracks price changes from the […]
The mortgage delinquency rate fell 11 basis points to 3.10% in May, the second lowest national mortgage delinquency rate ever seen. In May, the number of borrowers just one payment behind improved by 94,000, erasing nearly half of April’s increase, according to Black Knight. (Delinquency numbers in April spiked because the month ended on a […]
Government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 58,268 foreclosure prevention actions during the first quarter of 2023, raising the total number of homeowners who have been helped to 6,771,101 since the start of conservatorships in September 2008. This is according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Q1 2023 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance […]
Current housing market dynamics continue to be fueled by the lack of existing homes available for sale, a trend that did not improve during the spring homebuying season, when more homes are typically put on the market. This has led Fannie Mae to revise its 2023 single-family originations forecast to $1.59 trillion, down from $1.65 […]
Need to empower the leadership at your organization? Want to increase efficiency in your mortgage business? Or, seeking guidance for mentoring new employees? Suzy Lindblom will speak to all of these topics when she takes the stage at HW Annual. Register for HW Annual today to catch Lindblom on stage alongside other powerful women of […]
Summer is here, and housing inventory is finally growing! The spring housing inventory was like a zombie rising from the grave, very slow, but the summer is showing some promise and let’s hope it continues. Purchase apps had a small week-to-week gain. Mortgage rates were again in a small range, hanging near 7%. Here’s a […]
The HousingWire award spotlight series highlights the individuals and organizations that have been recognized through our Editors’ Choice Awards. Nominations for HousingWire’s 2023 HW Insiders are open until the end of today, June 23, 2023. Click here to nominate someone from your organization today. Today marks the last day to submit a nomination for the […]
Some of the best performing stocks in America this year are from large, national homebuilders – strong consumer demand, limited competition from the existing home sales market, and an improving supply chain have boosted their outlooks. On Monday, homebuilder confidence moved into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year, while Census data on […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced late last year that it is replacing the Classic FICO credit model used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the FICO 10T and the VantageScore 4.0 credit score models and outlined the timeline for implementation. But a coalition of 17 associations, led by the Housing Policy Council […]
On June 1, Arizona-headquartered retail lender AmeriFirst Financial Inc. relaunched its forward mortgage originations. It ceased that business in December 2022 after rising mortgage rates wreaked havoc on the housing industry. Of the 400 employees scooped up by American Pacific Mortgage (APM) late last year, about 20 LOs have returned to AmeriFirst Financial. Eric Bowlby, […]
Wholesale mortgage lender The Loan Store (TLS) announced on Thursday the roll-out of its new home equity line of credit (HELOC) product, which is currently available in 25 states and Washington, D.C. The Loan Store’s HELOC product is a standalone, fixed-rate line of credit that allows borrowers to tap into the equity of their homes, […]
Mortgage rates declined again this week following the Federal Reserve‘s recent pause on monetary tightening. However, rates on home loans remain at elevated levels compared to last year and that pause looks temporary. What should we expect from the summer home-buying season? The Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which focuses on conventional and conforming loans with a 20% […]
Existing home sales marginally increased in May, but were still down significantly from a year prior, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Total existing home sales rose 0.2% from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.30 million in May. Year-over-year, sales dropped 20.4% from 5.40 million in […]
Home Point Capital surprised the market on April 7 when it announced that the acquirer of its struggling mortgage origination business was a small wholesale shop few had even heard of. The Loan Store, based in Arizona and accustomed to originating about $20 million a month, was picking up the pieces of the third-largest wholesale […]
On the heels of the Federal Reserve pausing its rate hikes, mortgage demand increased, but only slightly. For the week that ended June 21, mortgage applications only climbed 0.5% from the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This slow growth highlights that while demand is there and rates have fallen for three consecutive […]
Housing starts are surging today and the builder’s confidence data is now in expansion territory. Does this mean the housing recession is over? As I have said many times over the last few months, the builders are efficient sellers and they’re taking advantage of an existing home sales market that is suffering from low inventory and […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has over 50 proposed rules in the pipeline in its section of the federal government’s 2023 spring regulatory agenda, released last week by the White House. Most of the 51 entries dedicated to HUD are in the “proposed rule stage,” the second of five stages involved […]
North Carolina-based Truist Financial Corporation announced on Tuesday that seasoned mortgage executive David Smith will be the head of Truist Mortgage effective July 31. Smith will replace the soon-to-be-retired Todd Chamberlain, who will assist with the transition. Smith, whose experience includes leadership roles at companies such as Keller Williams and CitiMortgage, will oversee the strategy and execution of originations, fulfillment, servicing […]
Mike Cagney’s Figure Technologies rolled out a wholesale lending platform that will give loan originators access to the company’s home equity line of credit (HELOC) offering. New wholesale partners of Figure can leverage the company’s HELOC technology to broker loans directly, the company said announcing the launch on Tuesday. “With Figure’s built-in digital origination process, […]
So you’ve been using the same outdated title production software for years and feel like you’re no longer getting the most bang for your buck. As your business grows, you need efficient software that can grow with you, but some questions hold you back. The four most common questions we hear from title professionals about […]
Mortgage rates were near 7% last week but purchase applications were still able to pull out an 8% week-to-week gain. That was surprisingly strong, but as I have always stressed, context is critical. Purchase apps were coming off a four-week losing streak and even though those were mild week-to-week declines, it was still four weeks […]
Below-median family income households are overcoming constraints related to increased borrowing costs and home prices and are finding ways to become homeowners, according to Freddie Mac’s latest economic, housing and mortgage outlook. The below-median family income homeownership rate increased to 53% from 48% since 2016, Freddie Mac said, citing data from the Census Bureau’s Housing […]
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is highlighting the challenges and successes that the COVID-19 pandemic created for mortgage servicers in response to a series of reports published this week by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). “[The] report from the OIG confirms what we all know […]
A former CrossCountry Mortgage employee accused her immediate superior at a branch in Georgia of sexual harassment and said the mortgage company retaliated against her after she lodged complaints with the human resources department and federal authorities. Christina Nielsen, a former processor, claims that during her employment at CrossCountry, Alpharetta branch manager Steven Bocca subjected […]
SimpleNexus, a homeownership platform developer for loan officers, borrowers, real estate agents, and settlement agents, announced this week a new integration with Empower, the loan origination system (LOS) from Black Knight. This bidirectional integration, available to financial institutions, including independent mortgage banks nationwide, enables real-time sharing of loan application data, milestone updates, and documents. “We […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will look for ways to streamline and simplify mortgage servicing rules in the months ahead following public comment on how to reduce risks for borrowers having trouble with their mortgage payments, according to a blog post from CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. Chopra noted in the post the importance of […]
After a slight decline this week, mortgage rates are expected to stay at their current elevated levels for a while in reaction to the Federal Reserve‘s (Fed) decision to pause its tightening monetary policy in June. In turn, mortgage origination volumes will remain under pressure for the remainder of the year. The Freddie Mac’s Primary […]
The Federal Reserve‘s (Fed) interest rate hike pause will give the housing industry a cautious sigh of relief, but observers are already nervous that the rate-induced pain train won’t come to a complete stop for a while longer and volatility will remain. The Fed’s updated economic projections showed that central bankers forecast that inflation could […]
About 60% of mortgage industry professionals in the U.S. are living paycheck to paycheck, an issue caused primarily by inflation, high interest rates and fewer deals, according to a study released this week by payroll technology company Everee. “The survey of 314 U.S.-based professionals in the mortgage industry with commission-based roles also found that over […]
The Federal Reserve (Fed) maintained the federal funds rate in the 5% to 5.25% range on Wednesday, following 10 consecutive hikes that brought rates to a level never seen since 2007. The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) has decided to pause its rate hikes in June after data that pointed to cooling inflation and the […]
TransUnion announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a commercial agreement with Truework, an income and employment (VOIE) services verification provider, in order to provide comprehensive income verification coverage. Together, Transunion and Truework will offer verifiers an accurate and up-to-date view of consumers’ income and credit data, enabling better insights and more efficient decision-making, […]
Two straight weeks of mortgage rate declines helped spur consumer demand, according to the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the week that ended June 9, mortgage applications climbed 7.2% from the prior week. It can partly be explained by the 30-year fixed rate decreasing to 6.77% during roughly the same period. “Mortgage […]