Inflation cooled significantly last month, representing arguably the most promising news for the housing industry since the Federal Reserve began instituting aggressive price control measures 16 months ago. But it’s just one report, and the Fed is likely to stay the course until signs point to a ‘break’ in the labor market, economists said. After […]
As mortgage rates reached their 2023 peak, mortgage applications rose slightly but remained very low last week. For the week that ended July 7, mortgage applications rose 0.9% from the prior week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Incoming economic data continue to send mixed signals about the economy, with the overall impact […]
Home prices are steady, if relatively high in terms of historical home prices, and homeowners are staying in their homes longer than ever before. The result? American homeowners currently have more tappable home equity than ever — a net $30 trillion in home equity that can be tapped right now, according to HousingWire lead analyst […]
House Numbers, an AI-enabled home wealth management platform, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $3.75 million in pre-seed funding. Resolute Ventures led the round, with participation from Maven Ventures and Uncommon Capital. “The U.S. Census reports 62% of U.S. households have home equity, compared to just 25% of whom hold stocks and mutual funds. […]
Candor Technology, a mortgage artificial intelligence (AI) technology firm, announced this week that it has unveiled its latest product feature, Candor Pre-Check. The tool aims to identify inconsistencies between loan applications and borrower-provided documents to data accuracy. “At Candor, we strive to create best-in-class technology to benefit the consumer, the lender, and the mortgage investor. […]
Mortgage rate volume climbed 31% in June, according to the latest report from Mortgage Capital Trading. That figure, which is based on actual locked loans, came after a 15% drop in May’s total lock production. Mortgage rates in June were generally in the 6.7% range. “We saw originations towards the end of May slow down, […]
The last two years of the mortgage market have been unusual. As the refinance market plummets and the purchase market sees significant reductions in volume, lenders are faced with the challenge of finding more business. The best way to do so is to retain your current customers. CoreLogic’s Precision Marketing helps lenders connect with their […]
The decline in mortgage volume and increasing interest rates mean that mortgage businesses are working to preserve their bottom lines, often by cutting costs. For many, this has meant layoffs and job cuts — in fact, almost every major mortgage lender cut a portion of their staff last year. As time goes on and uncertainty […]
As the spring homebuying season comes to an end, there are distinct signs of the housing market reheating from a home price perspective. The lack of inventory drove home prices up, challenging potential buyers, Black Knight pointed out in its monthly mortgage origination report. The reheating is widespread with more than half of the 50 […]
The slow zombie crawl of housing inventory went lower last week as inventory was negative week to week. In addition, mortgage rates rose to a yearly high as labor data stayed firm and purchase apps had their first negative week after three straight weeks of positive growth. Weekly Active listings fell by 866 homes Mortgage […]
The Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) — a program designed to offer financial help to homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic — has kept more than 300,000 homeowners in their homes by curing defaults and keeping them out of foreclosure, according to data released this week by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “As of March […]
The labor market is moderating gracefully, but conditions remain too hot for the Fed’s liking. Job gains were relatively solid yet again in June, with total nonfarm payroll employment reaching 209,000 jobs, compared to 339,000 in May, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This increase is slightly under the average […]
Consumer confidence in housing may have plateaued, according to the latest home purchase sentiment index (HPSI) by Fannie Mae. The HPSI — which tracks the housing market and consumer confidence to sell or buy a home — rose a mere 0.4 points to 66 as difficult supply and affordability conditions continue to weigh on the […]
Digital mortgage lender Better.com disclosed during its Q1 2023 earnings call that it posted a net loss of $89.9 million in the first quarter of 2023 and cut approximately 91% of its workforce over an approximately 18-month period — due in large part to a substantial decline in its funded loan volume. Better.com also spilled […]
Mortgage rates jumped this week as investors grapple with persistent positive economic data and a hawkish Fed. The 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 6.81% as of July 6, up significantly from last week’s 6.71%. By contrast, […]
The nation’s housing industry has entered a new normal in which the dynamics of the market appear perplexing — marked by high interest rates and high home prices, along with shrinking mortgage originations. The perplexing part: Why are home prices not declining in this environment? It boils down to two factors, according to housing-industry experts: […]
Apprasial management company Valligent, which was recently acquired by enterprise risk management and collateral valuation services provider VerosTM, announced today that it has integrated with the ICE Mortgage Technology platform Encompass. The Encompass platform by Ice Mortgage Technology offers innovative solutions for the mortgage industry and provides seamless integration capabilities and a marketplace for various […]
As rates for most loan types increased, mortgage applications fell to their lowest level in a month last week. For the week that ended June 30, mortgage applications fell 4.4% from the prior week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. “As mortgage-Treasury spreads remained wide, the 30-year fixed rate increased to 6.85%, the […]
Now-defunct lender Homepoint is suing seven correspondent mortgage lenders, claiming they breached an agreement by either failing to cure the loan defects or repurchase the loan as required under the terms of the correspondent agreement. Homepoint was forced to repurchase 10 separate loans that didn’t conform to the GSE guidelines for delinquencies and misrepresentations from […]
HousingWire Annual is strategically placed in October to bring the greatest minds in housing together. At HW Annual, they will be mapping out their playbooks for the future. The event serves as a starting line for conquering next year. With less than 100 days left until these leaders meet in Austin, Texas at the Hyatt […]
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) sent a letter to U.S. Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) this week that applauds the introduction of a bill to ban mortgage trigger leads outside of certain situations. The bill, House Resolution (H.R.) 4198, the “Protecting Consumers from Abusive Mortgage Leads Act,” would prohibit trigger leads for mortgages unless […]
Wells Fargo has been sued in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas by a group of current and former staffers from the company’s bilingual mortgage sales team alleging race-based discrimination. This is according to original reporting by Bloomberg and court documents reviewed by HousingWire. “Wells Fargo forces its employees on the Bilingual […]
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 Vanguards are open until July 28, 2023. Click here to nominate someone from your organization today. The 2023 HW Vanguard awards are now open for nominations! This prestigious award recognizes the […]
PrimeLending, a Texas-based retail mortgage bank, aims to expand its market share by growing within its existing footprint in a margin-thinning environment. The lender brought on 100 loan officers in June, bringing the total number of LOs to about 800. Licensed in 23 states across the country, PrimeLending has 150 branches including satellite and primary […]
Housing inventory finally broke under 2022 levels last week. To give you an idea how different this year is from last year, last week in 2022, active listings grew 30,940 while this year they only grew 5,848. Mortgage rates rose last week after the better-than-anticipated jobless claims data but even with higher rates, we also […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2023-14 this week, which increases the threshold from $75 million to $120 million for multifamily loans to be considered large loans. This marks the first major increase to the threshold since 2014. The goal of the increase is to “enable a greater number of transactions to […]
Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate, a top 10 U.S. mortgage lender, acquired Sirva’s shares at Premia Relocation Mortgage and now has full ownership of the business, the companies announced on Friday. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Premia, which provides a relocation mortgage service for employees moving across the country or to other countries, has a digital platform called […]
Brena Nath, Director of HW+ & Events at HW Media Seventy…give or take a few. This is how many speaking slots we created when we crafted this year’s HousingWire Annual agenda. And, we’ve put a lot of thought into who gets to be a part of this number. From Anywhere Brands Chief Marketing Officer Amory […]
Most borrowers who had a mortgage forbearance in March 2021, including disproportionately impacted borrowers of color, were either current or closed as of March 2023. This is according to data released this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Office of Research. In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic’s onset, the Coronavirus […]
DocMagic, a provider of loan document generation and eMortgage services, announced this week the integration of its Total eClose platform with Finastra‘s MortgagebotLOS solution. This integration aims to deliver an enhanced customer experience for mortgage borrowers while streamlining the closing process. “We’ve demonstrated the power of Total eClose through our integration with Finastra’s MortgagebotLOS, creating […]
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 […]