Mike Fratantoni, the chief economist and senior vice president of research and industry technology at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), addressed three major challenges in the housing market during testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives‘ Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. The biggest challenge in today’s housing market is the lack of inventory, […]
One of the major takeaways from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Wednesday news conference was that officials still expect interest rates to come down three times this year, indicating that recent higher-than-expected inflation numbers haven’t been enough to derail previous forecasts. As widely anticipated, central bankers left the benchmark interest rate steady at 5.25% to […]
Reverse mortgage industry veteran Tane Cabe recently left his position at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.’s reverse division to transition back into a role as a reverse mortgage broker. He joined C2 Financial’s reverse division in a move that he says helped to return him to his “roots.” RMD caught up with Cabe recently to learn […]
The PROGRESS in Lending Association released the names for its 2024 Innovations Award winners last week, including two vendors that are active in the reverse mortgage industry, according to an announcement. The organization recognized LoanPASS for its loan pricing software, which can map out forward and reverse mortgage options side by side. “In this current […]
About 65 mortgage professionals have not transitioned from AmCap Home Loans to its acquirer, CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM), and rival New American Funding (NAF) has hired the AmCap personnel to expand its business in Texas, the lender announced last week. Industry veteran Tom Boyd became a divisional executive vice president at NAF in December after spending more than 10 years at AmCap, […]
The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) held its short-term policy interest rate steady at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% for a fifth straight meeting on Wednesday. “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward […]
Figure Lending LLC is now operating under the umbrella of Figure Technology Solutions, independent of CEO Mike Cagney’s Figure Technologies. Figure Technology Solutions will focus on developing and distributing its proprietary, technology-enabled platform to partners and investors in the home equity lending ecosystem, the fintech firm announced earlier this week. The launch of Figure Technology […]
Mortgage demand receded after the release of a stronger-than-expected inflation reading last week. Mortgage applications decreased by 1.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending March 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. It was the first decrease in demand in three weeks. “Mortgage rates increased last week […]
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) launched a mortgage insurance (MI) center on its Encompass loan origination system, part of the company’s vision to to become a ‘life-of-loan’ platform. The mortgage insurance center, which provides services from third-party providers Arch MI, Enact, Essent, MGIC, National MI and Radian, will improve management functionality and enhance rate quote comparisons, ICE […]
In Tuesday’s report, the 5-unit housing permits data hit the same levels we saw in the COVID-19 recession. Once the backlog of apartments is finished, those jobs will be at risk, which traditionally means mortgage rates would fall soon after, as they have in previous economic cycles. However, this is happening while single-family permits are […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Housing Counseling (OHC) has made a series of updates to its Housing Counseling Program Handbook, including extensive additions, consolidations and reorganizations to a section focused on the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. This is according to a January meeting of the Housing Counseling […]
New York-based Rithm Capital has changed the compensation package of its top executive, Michael Nierenberg, by reducing his annual base salary, bonus and time-based equity award. But the company also increased the performance-based share of the total equity award. As a result, Nierenberg’s target annual compensation rose from $15 million to $17 million, according to […]
Mortgage capital markets tech firm Polly announced its application programming interface (API) integration with CoreLogic, which will enable lenders to streamline the digital mortgage process. Polly’s product and pricing engine (PPE) was built with an API-adjacent product strategy, which can create opportunities for optimal system-to-system integration that helps improve lender efficiencies, Polly said in a […]
Strong employment numbers and hotter-than-expected inflation data won’t provide the Federal Reserve greater confidence to ease its monetary policy in the near term, Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) group said this week. As a result, 30-year mortgage rates will remain higher for longer than expected. In contrast to its previous forecast that mortgage […]
Lewisville, Texas-based property services company MCS announced last week that it acquired Five Brothers Asset Management Solutions, a deal which brings MCS into the reverse mortgage industry for the first time, according to an announcement by the company. MCS contends that the deal creates “a national property preservation and services market leader that combines complementary […]
Mortgage rates remained flat this week ahead of the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.07% on Tuesday, down from 7.08% one week earlier. At the same time one year ago, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.69%. Meanwhile, […]
President Joe Biden will be in Las Vegas on Tuesday, where he will offer additional remarks about the policies and priorities of his administration’s push to address housing issues for renters and buyers alike. Biden will also highlight the money offered to states in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to boost affordable housing supply. […]
As we started 2024, the signals in the U.S. real estate market were for inventory growth, sales growth and home-price growth across the U.S. At the time, I observed that even if mortgage rates stayed flat, the momentum seemed to be in the cards for broad, slow growth in the market. However, mortgage rates didn’t […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced on Monday that it has raised lending limits for its Title I Manufactured Home Loan Program, a move designed to align the FHA with market forces and to encourage more lenders to participate in the program as the Biden administration makes a renewed push on affordable housing. The move […]
Digital lender Better.com launched its One Day Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) product that will provide approval decisions to consumers within 24 hours of locking their interest rate. Better launched its first HELOC product about a year ago. The One Day HELOC product is the latest upgraded version as the New York-headquartered lender looks […]
A national syndicated columnist has taken a closer look at the reverse mortgage product category after reviewing data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about the industry’s advertising practices, and she says that the product can have utility for older Americans as long as a prospective borrower properly understands it. Julie Jason, an investment […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday announced that it would be bringing its Innovative Housing Showcase back to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this June. The event is designed to highlights housing solutions and “advancements in housing design, technology and sustainability.” Taking place on June 7-9, the event is […]
It’s spring 2024 and we have a Federal Reserve meeting this week. The 10-year yield is at the same critical point as last year before the Fed went hawkish and sent mortgage rates to 8% and the 10-year yield to 5%. Could this happen again? This is the week the balls are all in the […]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement of commission lawsuits nationwide is expected to force mortgage lenders and loan officers to find new ways of approaching listing agents and borrowers, give LOs a more significant role in the home-buying process, and encourage housing professionals to pursue dual-licensing, industry experts told HousingWire. Mortgage pros have closely […]
David Peskin, formerly from Senior Lending Network and Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF), has purchased an ownership stake in top 10 reverse mortgage lender HighTechLending (HTL) and will lead the company’s new pursuits alongside co-owner and COO Erika Macias. Peskin spoke to RMD about the move. He shed light on why now was the right time […]
Homeowners 62 and older saw their collective home equity levels drop in the fourth quarter of 2023 by roughly $119 billion to $12.84 trillion, the third quarterly fall in the last year. This is according to the Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI), a measure of senior-held home equity from the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association […]
Production gains and losses for IMBs and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks over the past five years. Courtesy of the Mortgage Bankers Association “This year was exacerbated by the current lack of housing inventory and mortgage rates that increased to their highest levels of the year, keeping refinancings volumes low. These factors contributed to a […]
Sara Holtz “I am energized by the opportunity to build on the company’s momentum to drive meaningful transformation for Optimal Blue’s valued clients and the borrowers they serve,” said Holtz in a prepared statement. She brings more than 20 years of experience to the position, with her latest stint at ICE Mortgage Technology involving leading […]
California mortgage tech firm Blend Labs narrowed its loss in 2023 by expanding its consumer banking footprint and growing its mortgage consumer base. The San Francisco-based company reported a non-GAAP net loss of $101.3 million in 2023, down from a non-GAAP net loss of $182.2 million in 2022, according to data shared in its fourth-quarter […]
Lisa Moriello, the national retail reverse mortgage sales manager at multichannel lender loanDepot, recently spoke to RMD about how business in 2024 seemed to be off to a promising start. Diving deeper into the current reverse mortgage business environment, she offered additional perspectives on multiple topics. These include the integration of forward mortgage professionals into […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is being sued in federal court over accusations that it failed to refund nearly $385 million in mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) to borrowers over a period of more than two decades. The lawsuit was previously reported by National Mortgage News and Law360. The proposed class-action lawsuit […]
Michael Hild, who served as CEO of now-defunct reverse mortgage lender Live Well Financial, is seeking a one-year delay of a deadline to file a motion for a new trial based on what his attorney describes as “new evidence.” This is according to court documents reviewed by RMD. After his arrest by the FBI in […]
Nonbank mortgage originator Change Lending will become a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLB-SF). The Anaheim, California-based originator’s application was approved on Wednesday after it fulfilled all statutory requirements for membership, including those related to capital, profitability and liquidity, the company reported. Change’s membership will become effective upon its acquisition […]
The presiding judge in the bankruptcy case involving Reverse Mortgage Investment Trust (RMIT) — the parent company of former leading reverse mortgage lender Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF) — has approved a request to transfer the company’s bankruptcy status to Chapter 7 from its current Chapter 11 status. This is according to court documents reviewed by […]
Guild Mortgage released its fourth-quarter and full year 2023 earnings report this week, showing that it narrowed its focus on purchase originations and increased its market share on the forward lending side, but it still sustained a loss. After its acquisition last year of Cherry Creek Mortgage, Guild increased its involvement in the reverse mortgage […]
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) will begin to cover the upfront cost of hard credit report pulls for its broker partners as it aims to expand market share. The new initiative will ease the impact of out-of-pocket expenses for mortgage brokers after the costs for credit reports increased this year, the company said in making the […]
Good news! The national economy is growing; unemployment is low; corporate revenues are up. For housing and mortgage professionals, however, these apparent boons spell trouble. They signal that the economy is still running hot — or at least more than lukewarm — and that inflation may still need more cold water from the Federal Reserve […]
A decline in interest rates buoyed mortgage demand for another week. Mortgage applications increased by 7.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending March 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. It was the second increase in a row. “Mortgage rates dropped below 7% last week for most loan […]
loanDepot greatly reduced its costs in 2023 while revenues were in free fall amid a contracting market. It wasn’t enough to bring the California-based lender company profitability, but it narrowed its losses. Operationally, loanDepot entered 2024 by dealing with a cyberattack that brought its systems down and a forecast for market conditions to improve. loanDepot recorded a non-GAAP […]
The White House this week submitted its fiscal year 2025 budget proposal to the House of Representatives and the Senate, outlining the priorities of the administration in providing a budgetary blueprint for the entirety of the U.S. federal government. Within the congressional justifications for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are a […]
The housing priorities outlined by the White House and President Joe Biden last week before and during the State of the Union address are crucial for alleviating a serious burden facing many Americans, and the plan emphasizes actions that can be taken to impact the current housing market. This is according to comments shared with […]
The largest U.S. nonbank mortgage lenders continue to gain market share as the industry consolidates and a number of smaller players exit the space due to a lack of strong franchises to retain sufficient volume, Fitch Ratings reported Tuesday. Fitch expects additional consolidation in the industry as profitability remains constrained by a challenging origination environment. […]
In anticipation of Tuesday’s inflation reading, mortgage rates eased compared to last week. HousingWire’s Mortgage Rate Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.08% on Tuesday, down from 7.17% one week earlier. At the same time one year ago, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.83%. Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed rate averaged […]
Mortgage capital markets tech firm Polly rolled out its Lender Intelligence platform, which leverages data and analytics to drive margin expansion and cost reduction. The new platform will enable lenders to track their volume trends, see how their loan pricing compares to competitors and gain insights into loan origination profit margins, Polly stated. Lender Intelligence […]
Wells Fargo-backed mortgage fintech Maxwell rolled out a point-of-sale (POS) feature that offers tailored workflows and integrations. The Blueprint Builder features more than 60 third-party integrations, allowing lending teams to connect with other pieces of their workflow, from credit and verifications to pricing and disclosures. Lenders can choose to integrate and configure many third-party services […]