The past year hasn’t been particularly good for tech or housing. As a consequence, the number of real estate, mortgage and general housing tech firms to make the annual Inc. Magazine list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America declined in 2023. In all, 37 companies made the cut this year, down from […]
Last week, mortgage rates hit a 21st-century high, the 10-year yield closed slightly higher than my peak forecast for 2023, and housing inventory growth was still slow. Purchase application data didn’t budge much on the week-to-week data. Weekly active listings rose by only 4,401. Mortgage rates went from 7.19%% to 7.37%. Purchase apps were flat […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week announced a package of regulatory and administrative waivers that will allow the use of HUD funding to assist with the recovery of Maui after the island endured a series of devastating wildfires. The waivers come as thousands of government-backed mortgages on the island have […]
The 10-year yield closed today above my key level of 4.25%: Does that mean mortgage rates will hit 8%? To understand what’s happening, here’s how I look at the bond market and mortgage rates in my forecast for 2023. In my 2023 forecast, the range on the 10-year yield was between 3.21%-4.25%, emphasizing that the […]
Bank of America (BofA) prevailed in a court case brought against it by Cook County, Illinois, which sued the bank alleging predatory mortgage loans to Black and Hispanic borrowers in the Chicago area. The news was first reported by Bloomberg Law. Cook County initially sued BofA and other banks in 2014, alleging that the company […]
Reflecting the housing industry’s headwinds, just 16 mortgage lenders and brokers made the annual list of Inc. Magazine‘s 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for 2023. It’s a sharp decline from 2022, when nearly 70 mortgage lenders and brokers were named. The companies are U.S.-based, privately held and independent as of Dec. 31, 2022. […]
Independent mortgage banks (IMB) reported an average net loss of $534 on each loan originated from April to June, down from $1,972 per loan in the first quarter of 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The average pre-tax production loss was 18 basis points in Q2. Including both the production and servicing business lines, 58% of retail […]
Mortgage rates continued to climb this week as U.S. bond yields hit their highest level since 2008. Despite the turbulence, some analysts said a debt crisis is not imminent. According to those analysts, investors in the bond market are reacting to the government issuing debt and expecting the Federal Reserve to increase rates in September […]
Have homebuilders reached their limit on how much they can lower mortgage rates to boost demand? Today we got the housing starts data, which was a beat of estimates, but total housing activity isn’t booming here. I firmly believe that the builders can’t solve the housing inventory situation when it comes to single-family units because […]
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) this week submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in response to a recent request for input (FRI) on GSE single-family pricing framework. Its message? The trade group asked the regulator to “make no further changes for an extended period of time.” The original RFI […]
The biggest nonbank mortgage lenders in America saw improved performance in both origination and servicing segments in the second quarter, capitalizing on the continued mortgage pullback from banks. As we’ve reported, that trend looks sticky, which could help change the fortunes of top independent mortgage banks sooner than expected. In this week’s edition of DataDigest, […]
Mortgage applications fell for the fourth consecutive week as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to its highest level since 2001, reaching 7.16%. For the week that ended August 11, mortgage applications fell 0.8% from the prior week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last week, treasury yields and mortgage rates remained elevated following […]
The Housing Policy Council (HPC) is urging the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to modify its proposed government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) single-family pricing framework, including coordination with banking regulators to streamline capital requirements and retention of upfront guarantee fees. The original request for input published in May was designed to gather public feedback on goals and […]
Gary Keller took to the stage at the 2023 Keller Williams Mega Agent Camp in Austin, Texas, Tuesday morning with his usual bravado: a black-and-white video featuring his favorite animal, the buffalo, in a thunderstorm, alongside a motivational message for agents. Rather than fear the storm, Keller Williams agents embody resilience and adaptability to conquer […]
Non-QM lender Acra Lending is projecting mortgage originations will increase in 2023 to about $2.6 billion, up from $2.1 billion last year, says CEO Keith Lind, “and we’ve been profitable every month this year, and every quarter.” Lind says Acra’s success in a punishing operating environment that has caused a number of non-QM mortgage lenders to exit […]
Two former employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against Rocket Mortgage for allegedly failing to pay overtime wages. That’s at least the second case that targets the Detroit-based lender for unpaid wages. Brittany Roseboro and John Glover claim that Rocket’s leadership required them to attend unpaid pre-shift meetings and, due to technological delays and other problems, they usually […]
The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac improperly amended stock purchase agreements in 2012 when it allowed the U.S. Treasury to sweep up the companies’ net profits, a jury in Washington, D.C. found Monday. The jury awarded shareholders of the government sponsored enterprises a total of $612.4 million in damages. Fannie Mae will pay […]
Swiss bank UBS AG announced Monday it has agreed to pay $1.43 billion in penalties to settle a civil action alleging misconduct related to the underwriting, issuance and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) before the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which refers to a civil action filed in November 2018, does […]
Rate lock activity fell for the second month in July as mortgage rates topped 7% for the first time since November 2022. Overall rate lock volume was down 7% month over month, with purchase lending accounting for 88% of total lock activity, according to Black Knight‘s originations market monitor report. Even so, purchase lock counts […]
The mortgage industry continues to be battered by negative headlines amid the slow in demand, the challenges of housing supply, and rising interest rates. It’s no secret that refinance (refi) volumes dropped off a cliff, and the number of homebuyers in the market has shrunk since 2022. That leaves you with a small pool of […]
Last week ended with a wild ride for mortgage rates. We anticipated the two inflation reports could help mortgage rates, however, we had a bad bond auction last Thursday, and the 10-year yield rose sharply. Weekly active inventory grew slowly again and purchase apps were down week to week again. Weekly active listings rose by […]
New York-based digital lender Better.com will be going public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Aurora Acquisition Corp. nearly two years after Better’s initial timeline to IPO. “At least 65% of the outstanding ordinary shares of the company entitled to vote at this meeting have voted in favor of (the) proposal,” Arnaud […]
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. entered into a definitive agreement Tuesday to merge with Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp., beating its competitor Terra Property Trust, Inc. AG Mortgage, a pure-play residential mortgage REIT controlled by Angelo, Gordon & Co. and owner of mortgage lender ARC Home, made a stock-and-cash offer for its peer Western Asset, […]
In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Freddie Mac has released its 2023 Stress Test Disclosure, which reflects two hypothetical economic scenarios, including a “severely adverse” scenario. Under the latter, Freddie Mac would face a credit loss of $13.7 billion — or 0.4% of its total portfolio — under the […]
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate continued its upward trajectory for the third consecutive week, rising to 6.96%, according to Freddie Mac. Since the last FOMC meeting in July, all eyes have been fixed on Thursday’s Consumer Price Index release. Another rate hike in September would move the target federal funds rate to its highest level […]
Wells Fargo rolled out a down payment grant program that will offer $10,000 to eligible buyers or homeowners who currently live in or are purchasing homes in underserved communities in eight metropolitan areas. The Homebuyer Access grant program is available to those who have a combined 120% or less of the area median income (AMI). […]
However, once you strip out rent — which is what the Fed has told us they want to focus on because of the lag in rent data — the growth rate of inflation is falling more noticeably. The Fed is focused on core service inflation less shelter. If you take CPI data in total and […]
Mortgage tech firm Blend Labs narrowed its financial losses in the second quarter on the strength of its platform business as well as cost-cutting measures. Blend, whose white-label software processes billions in mortgage transactions for lenders, reaffirmed its goal of reaching profitability by 2024. The San Francisco, California-based company reported a non-GAAP net loss of […]
Over the last year, the nation’s largest banks, spooked by surging rates and increased regulatory risks, have shied away from the jumbo mortgage market. A select group of regional bank challengers have suffered a worse fate: dead, sometimes directly because of their own calamitous jumbo strategies. And to compound matters, Wells Fargo, the biggest lender […]
UWM Holdings Corporation, the parent of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), was another mortgage lender that returned to profitability in the second quarter of 2023, just like its primary competitor Rocket Companies and the origination segments of Mr. Cooper and Pennymac. UWM’s performance was boosted by an increase in the fair value of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) and higher origination volumes, despite lower […]
Large banks have historically been the rulers of the jumbo market. Economic conditions, however, are opening up space for new entrants eying market share. This is because surging mortgage rates, upcoming regulatory changes and regional bank collapses have forced large depositories to pull back. Their retreat opens up opportunities for rival firms to grab market […]
Mortgage applications fell for the third consecutive week as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to its highest level since November 2022 at 7.09%. For the week that ended August 4, mortgage applications fell 3.1% from the prior week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last week, treasury yields rates and mortgage rates rose. […]
Ginnie Mae president Alanna McCargo said on Tuesday that the liquidity challenges faced by nonbanks are a critical issue facing the U.S. government’s mortgage system considering their increasingly important role in the space, and that supporting nonbanks with additional credit facilities will be a priority for the future. McCargo discussed the matter during a live […]
loanDepot delivered its fifth consecutive quarterly loss in the second quarter of 2023, a period marked by a leadership shake-up and a business lines consolidation, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday. But the company’s financials are improving. The California-based mortgage lender had its second consecutive double-digit revenue gain […]
Consumers’ increased confidence regarding their personal financial situations was largely offset by greater pessimism toward home-buying conditions, Fannie Mae’s home purchase sentiment index (HPSI) showed. The HPSI — which tracks the housing market and consumer confidence to sell or buy a home — rose a mere 0.8 points to 66.8 in July. The full index is […]
Gregg Busch has shifted his business focus over the last year or so. And he hasn’t done so voluntarily. Busch is vice president and senior mortgage banker at First Savings Mortgage Corporation, a Virginia-based lender that produced $2 billion in mortgages in 2022, less than half the $4.2 billion volume of the previous year, per […]
Mortgage credit availability dropped to its lowest level since 2013 in July as receding origination volumes led to lower profitability for many lenders. Simultaneously, liquidity concerns persisted for some jumbo lenders. As a result, many companies tried to reduce their operational costs by narrowing their loan product offerings, according to Joel Kan, Mortgage Bankers Association’s vice president […]
In an industry facing headwinds, Connecticut-headquartered mortgage servicer and lender Planet Home Lending stands out among its peers, reporting double-digit increases in mortgage origination volume while competitors struggle to hit last year’s levels. Planet Home Lending, founded in 2007, was the only firm among the country’s top-10 lenders that generated more year-over-year origination volume in […]
Today’s low-volume, purchase-focused market is more competitive than ever, as mortgage lenders work to win more market share than their neighbor and aim to be as profitable as possible. Compressed margins make it crucial to work as quickly and efficiently as they can, taking every opportunity to reduce costs and maximize every basis point of […]
Home prices are going up across the country after slowing for more than a year, according to a new report from data and analytics company Black Knight. The report found that nationally, home prices in June rose by 0.67% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Meanwhile, the annual home price increase was 0.8% in June, […]
I am going to be controversial here. The GSEs have become more aggressive in their levels of buybacks with lenders. I say this without the benefit of the specific data, and I would love to see some from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or the FHFA, but in the absence of that, I have interviewed […]
The decision to allow the ICE – Black Knight merger to proceed announces the digital integration of the real estate value chain anticipated for over 25 years. Digitization redraws industry boundaries and changes how the value of information is expressed, enriched and exchanged. The capital, capability and content are present to make all real estate markets […]
Here’s one for you: How many fintech companies does it take to reduce the cost to originate a loan? There’s no great punchline to throw in here — only the sobering fact that it cost a record high of $13,171 to originate a loan in the first quarter of 2023, according to Fannie Mae’s recent […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) and Black Knight jointly stipulated to dismiss a federal court case against ICE’s $11.7 billion proposed acquisition of Black Knight, clearing a major regulatory hurdle that should allow the deal to go through. “The joint stipulation dismisses the federal complaint and dissolves the temporary restraining order […]
The housing inventory data from last week makes me wonder if we are starting the seasonal decline in active listings in August. Mortgage rates also had a crazy week and purchase apps fell once again. Weekly active listings rose by only 2,939 Mortgage rates went from 7.04% to 7.20% and back to 7.03% Purchase apps […]