As the 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased for the sixth consecutive week to 7.70%, mortgage applications slumped, hitting their lowest level since 1995. Last Monday, in an attempt to calm the markets, a coalition of housing trade groups — including the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), National Association of Realtors (NAR) and National Association of Home […]
The single-family rental (SFR) sector and its close cousin, the fix-and-flip market, are now essentially treading water in an environment of high interest rates, approaching 8%; high home prices; and a dearth of home-purchase inventory. Still, even in this difficult-to-agonizing supply-challenged housing market, SFR and fix-and-flip investors, which both target existing-home inventory, are still finding […]
Mortgage tech firm Blend has launched a lower-cost version of its mortgage suite for retail independent mortgage banks, the company announced this week. This offering, called Blend IMB Essentials, includes many of the same features of its standard offering for mortgage lenders. Blend IMB Essentials will streamline the application process, will facilitate pulling soft credits […]
Verifications provider Argyle announced its integration with Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter (DU) program on Monday, becoming the first DU-authorized report supplier to offer automated income and employment verification reports based on consumer-permissioned, direct-source data. The integration enables mortgage lenders to use Argyle’s income and employment verification solution to get Day 1 Certainty and relief from […]
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has tremendous potential to cut costs and improve customer experience, but regulation has not caught up to develop a governance program, industry pros said of AI’s implementation in mortgage lending. Bias, discrimination, privacy and security concerns related to consumer information are some of the biggest risks in implementing generative AI, noted […]
The market is rocky, margins are tight. And the grind may not end anytime soon, Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit told attendees in a fiery speech at the trade group’s annual conference this week in Philadelphia. “Normally, I talk about the remarkable work you did over the previous year. Then I look […]
Regarding lenders’ vociferous complaints about increased loan buybacks from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said the regulator expects originators to deliver loans consistent with the guidelines. But, she added, the Enterprises must implement a fair, consistent, and predictable process for identifying loan defects and the appropriate remedies. “After multiple years of record-high loan volume, […]
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker advocated for stopping interest rate hikes, noting that disinflation is under way. “I believe that we are at the point where we can hold rates where they are,” Harker said at the 2023 Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Convention & Expo in Philadelphia on Monday. “Disinflation is under way, labor […]
The trough for the mortgage origination market is nearing an end point and 2024 is shaping up to be a better year for the industry, economists of the the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said at the 2023 Annual Convention & Expo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The MBA doesn’t expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates […]
Two top-20 mortgage lenders in the United States may combine forces amid the most challenging market in decades. CrossCountry Mortgage is in talks to acquire Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., nine industry sources told HousingWire. The talks remain ongoing and are not believed to be in the late stages, sources said. If the deal is completed, […]
Investing in tech to save costs and get business in the door has become ever more important in an origination market facing extended headwinds. Recognizing the opportunities in the mortgage space, Grant Moon, former CEO and founder of fintech platform Home Captain, is gearing up to launch his new firm – BlueForceX. As a mortgage […]
At two top-five depository mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, the third quarter of 2023 earnings reflected different strategies in the mortgage space. During Q3, Wells Fargo faced the consequences of exiting the correspondent lending channel in January, which resulted in reduced revenues from mortgage origination and servicing compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, JPMorgan, which […]
Customer engagement platform Total Expert‘s customer intelligence and mortgage tech firm Polly‘s product and pricing engine (PPE) will help California-based lender Mountain West Financial identify lending opportunities from its existing database. By deploying customer intelligence from Total Expert — a customer engagement platform for financial institutions — Mountain West Financial will provide automated alerts that notify […]
A coalition of trade associations — including the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA), National Association of Realtors (NAR), and Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) — on Thursday called on the Biden administration to reduce the historically large spread between the 30-year mortgage rates and 10-year Treasuries. The trade groups noted that the spread […]
Today’s CPI report was good because it shows core inflation, which the Fed cares about, is trending in the right direction. The Fed feels much better today because of all the rate hikes they have done to get the Fed funds rate above the growth rate of inflation. Last year, CPI core inflation was running […]
Wholesale lender The Loan Store launched a consumer rewards program designed to help mortgage brokers offer competitive mortgage rates. Buyers can save up to 40 basis points on any agency, government or non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) first-lien loans when working with a wholesale loan origination partner approved by The Loan Store, the Arizona-headquartered lender said. Consumers […]
Bankrupt retail lender AmeriFirst Financial is seeking approval for a private sale of loans from a Delaware bankruptcy judge to pay off two warehouse lenders and fund restructuring costs. If approved, AmeriFirst’s retail and commercial loans worth more than $5 million will be sold to a non-QM lender Oaktree Funding Corp., Inc., according to a […]
Mortgage rates kept climbing for the fifth consecutive week, bringing average year-over-year rates 60 basis points higher. Freddie Mac‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which focuses on conventional and conforming loans with a 20% down payment, shows the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.57% as of Oct. 12. That’s up 8 basis points from 7.49% the previous […]
Real estate investment trust Rithm Capital Corp. has increased its offer to acquire Sculptor Capital Management Inc. by 7.62% to $676 million amid competition from a group of investors and a dispute among the shareholders at the asset management firm. On July 24, Rithm said it struck a deal to acquire the New York-based company for $639 million, or […]
Mortgage-rate-lock volume fell 20% in September, led by a combination of seasonal decline in purchase activity and rising interest rates, according to Optimal Blue’s Originations Market Monitor report. September’s rate-lock decline continues a four-month trend of falling mortgage volumes, with month-over-month purchase locks down 20%, cash-outs down 17% and rate/term refinances down 18% in September. […]
loanDepot‘s CEO and president Frank Martell said the mortgage market will remain challenging in 2024. Still, the company is working to make money and, when the market turns, accelerate growth in a profitable, sustainable way. To get there, Martell said loanDepot is still committed to its Vision 2025 plan, announced three months following his arrival to […]
The country’s top lender, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), raised agency conforming loan limits to $750,000 following other firms’ moves ahead of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) decision expected next month. UWM will honor expected limits for conventional and VA loans locked starting Oct. 11, the company said on Wednesday. This represents a 3.2% increase […]
PNC Bank issued pink slips to an undisclosed number of employees this week as part of its focus on controlling costs. “As part of our strong focus on expense management, we have reviewed our organizational structure and have identified an opportunity to better position our company for long-term success. This includes a shift away from […]
Leading property data and analytics company CoreLogic’s newly launched digital mortgage platform (DMP) aims to streamline the mortgage process and improve efficiency for lenders. DMP integrated Roostify’s digital mortgage solution with CoreLogic’s property data and workflow capabilities to offer a comprehensive digital mortgage experience, the firm said in a release on Wednesday. CoreLogic acquired digital […]
As the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage hit 7.67% for the week ending Oct. 6, mortgage applications remained near historic lows. However, an uptick in adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) applications edged total applications up slightly. Mortgage applications picked up 0.6% for the week ending Oct. 6, compared to the week prior, according to weekly mortgage application data from […]
Blend Labs announced an integration with MeridianLink Inc., a software platform for financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies. Lenders using MeridianLink Consumer loan origination software (LOS) will be able to leverage Blend’s unified platform and consumer banking origination software for a fast onboarding and application process for banking, credit card and loan products, Blend said […]
Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate raised agency conforming loan limits to $750,000 on Monday, representing an increase of 3.2% compared to the current limit of $726,200. “We raised the conforming loan limits to $750,000 on our Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 30-year fixed. This is in anticipation of the loan limit increase for 2024,” Kate Amor, senior vice president and head of enterprise […]
A coalition of housing trade groups — including the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), National Association of Realtors (NAR) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) — called on the Federal Reserve to provide market certainty about the Fed’s rate path and its plans for the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio. Ongoing market uncertainty about the Fed’s […]
A mortgage lender isn’t the first place most people would turn to for yoga, meditation or personal wellness. However, Guaranteed Rate hopes to change that with the launch of its new consumer-focused Rate App. The free app, which officially launches Tuesday, allows users to price out mortgages, personal loans and other finance products that Guaranteed […]
When mortgage rates blew past the 7% level earlier this year, the securitization market “froze up temporarily,” according to Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at the government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae. “Investors who would buy a mortgage-backed security [MBS], which is backed by mortgages that have a 7% coupon, believe that when the Fed eases interest […]
United Wholesale Mortgage, the country’s top mortgage lender, announced an enhancement to its PA+ service on Saturday, allowing brokers and their processors to choose which part of the loan process they would like a lender’s loan coordinator to handle. Launched in May 2023, PA+ is a service that provides a dedicated UWM loan coordinator for […]
Top advocates for the wholesale channel criticized the increased volume of loan buybacks from government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac amid a shrinking mortgage market. In a session about brokers’ influence on national policy during AIME Fuse 2023 in Las Vegas on Friday, trade group representatives and wholesale executives said that loan repurchases […]
Mortgage lenders are betting on down-payment assistance programs, buy-down options and renovation products to provide brokers opportunities to win in a market with mortgage rates nearing 8%, a lack of inventory and high home prices. Meanwhile, in addition to diversifying their portfolios, brokerage firm owners are keeping their cost structure under control to be profitable […]
With 30-year fixed mortgage rates climbing to a 23-year high, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) called on the Federal Reserve to bring some certainty to financial markets. “It is time, and very important for the Fed to make clear two statements — the Fed is at the end of its rate hikes; the Fed will […]
New American Funding’s partnership with Matic Insurance and OneSource Solution will provide insurance and home setup services for existing and new customers while NAF is processing the loan. NAF Insurance and NAF Concierge will be integrated into NAF’s loan process to remove friction from the mortgage, home buying and moving experience, the California-headquartered lender said. […]
The state of the mortgage industry is rife with concern as elevated rates and low inventory have stunted both refinance and origination activity. As a result, the makeup of the mortgage ecosystem is shifting. Private correspondent aggregators play an essential role in the upkeep of a balanced mortgage ecosystem. While this term may be unfamiliar […]
Industry-leading lender Movement Mortgage will become an “early adopter” of FICO Score 10 T, the updated credit scoring model designed to take advantage of trended data information to help expand mortgage approval rates. Movement will employ FICO 10 T “to analyze their non-conforming loans, in conjunction with the classic FICO Scores,” the company said in […]
Fannie Mae on Thursday announced that its Desktop Underwriter (DU) system will include new changes to the maximum allowable loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for two- to four-unit, principal residence, purchase and limited cash-out transactions, as well as other updates to further align the system with recent changes to the Selling Guide. The new DU update will […]
The implementation of more careful loan screening procedures has contributed to lower levels of risk for mortgage fraud. Mortgage application fraud declined 3.1% year-over-year in Q2 of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022, according to CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Report. However, they increased slightly(+1.6%), from Q1 to Q2 2023. Overall, in the second quarter […]
The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) shared its annual “A-List” on Monday. Shirley Gary, Tracy Allen, Realty Group, and the Advanced Super Team ranked highest in AREAA’s real estate sales list, while Shashank Shekhar and Joanna Yu topped the loan originators rankings. When added-up together, the A-List honorees generated more than $15.4 billion […]
Mortgage rates kept climbing this week as spreads on the 10-year Treasury yield widened, reaching a 16-year high. Freddie Mac‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which focuses on conventional and conforming loans with a 20% down payment, shows the 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.49% as of Oct. 5th, up 18 basis point from last week’s 7.31%. […]
As the housing market suffers through a drought of home sales and related mortgage originations in the current high-rate environment, home prices and home equity continue to climb, helping to spark a revival of another sector — home equity lending and investment. Between the summer of 2019 to date, there have been at least 26 […]
Fannie Mae on Wednesday released its October 2023 update to its Selling Guide, aiming to reflect changes in the mortgage industry, its surrounding regulatory environment and Fannie Mae policy positions. The first update is a change to the documentation requirements for rental income that is used in a qualifying decision. “We updated our policies for […]
As major home insurance carriers are increasingly pulling back their coverage options in disaster-prone areas, hundreds of thousands of people are moving to state-sponsored “last resort” insurance plans originally designed to offer a temporary fix. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, such plans — typically used for those who have no other options […]
In an environment where 30-year fixed mortgage rates are racing towards 8%, loan officer pipelines are thinning dramatically. Originators who primarily served move-up buyers with high credit scores and strong down payments are struggling to find clients. But LOs who cater to first-time homebuyers’ needs – offering FHA loans and down payment assistance loans — […]