A 10 basis point decline in mortgage rates last week wasn’t enough to spur consumer demand for mortgages, according to the latest figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the week that ended June 2, mortgage applications fell 1.4% from the prior week. That was despite mortgage rates dropping to 6.81% from 6.91% during roughly […]
High home prices and mortgage rates are continuing to constrain affordability in housing markets nationwide. As a result, consumers’ perceptions on home buying and selling have further diverged. Fannie Mae‘s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) — which tracks the housing market and consumer confidence with selling or buying a home — declined by 1.2 points […]
After the recent extraordinary show of force defending changes to LLPAs by federal regulators and their friends, the forest through the trees risk remains in focus to me. One of the great concerns I have, as both a former regulator and the former head of a major industry trade association, is the downside risk of […]
The acquisition of Roostify by CoreLogic aims to streamline the user experience in the mortgage application process. By incorporating Roostify’s mortgage application software into CoreLogic’s suite of products, clients can benefit from an end-to-end integrated workflow to the loan origination process. This integration will simplify the application process, reducing manual tasks and providing real-time updates […]
Rocket Mortgage is looking to hire local loan officers at a time when mortgage rates are high and the industry remains heavily reliant on the purchase market. The Michigan lender, which racked up record profits with its call center model during the pandemic due to a large number of refis, said hiring local LOs isn’t […]
Sprout Mortgage and its ex-workers are close to settling several lawsuits over unpaid wages following the abrupt closure of the non-QM lender 11 months ago. A judge has yet to approve the deal. On June 1, attorneys representing the former employees filed a notice of motion for preliminary settlement approval in a federal district court in […]
Cenlar FSB, the second-largest mortgage servicer and largest subservicer in the U.S., announced on Tuesday the promotion of two leaders in its wholesale bank division. Keith Austin has been promoted to director of asset management and valuation services. With over 25 years of experience in portfolio management, he brings to the role an extensive expertise in default […]
In honor of National Homeownership Month, Chase Home Lending unveiled on Tuesday an upgraded suite of resources for homebuyers to assist in navigating the homebuying process and managing homeownership. One resource unveiled by Chase is Lock and Shop, which enables buyers to lock in their mortgage rate for 90 days without an upfront fee when […]
With rates around 6.9% and home prices still near record highs, homebuyers are demanding that their loan officers provide options to lower monthly mortgage payments as much as possible. Michael J. Barnes, a branch manager at Mann Mortgage, recently had a client who planned to live in a new home for five years before selling […]
Nationwide Property & Appraisal Services LLC (NPAS), a pioneer in the real estate appraisal sector, announced on Tuesday the launch of its product line, Pinnacle Desktop Appraisals. This service delivers a cost-effective solution that enhances efficiency, accuracy, and impartiality, according to the company. Designed to cater to the needs of home equity lenders, fix and […]
Top U.S. originator United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is the target of two lawsuits filed by former underwriters alleging retaliation, a hostile workplace environment, gender/sexual harassment and failure to pay minimum wages and overtime. The company declined to comment on the accusations. According to the lawsuits filed in a U.S. district court in Michigan, the alleged events occurred […]
Top Producer Software, a leading real estate software provider, announced on Monday the release of its first-ever social media lead product, Social Connect. This new product combines social media marketing with automated lead nurture to enable real estate agents to grow their database and convert more leads into clients. “Social Connect is a game changer […]
Desmond Smith: There are two ways to get a mortgage — HousingWire recently spoke with Desmond Smith, chief growth officer at United Wholesale Mortgage, about the role that wholesale lending plays in the mortgage ecosystem and common myths and misconceptions about becoming an independent mortgage broker. HousingWire: What role has wholesale lending historically played in […]
Direct retail lender Revolution Mortgage has scooped up two of loanDepot‘s top LOs, accelerating its plans to expand market share despite a tough origination environment. Jorden Brok and Brett Lotsoff are producing area managers and SVPs of mortgage lending at Revolution Mortgage and are tasked with expanding the company’s footprint in the greater Chicago area. […]
The affordability challenges homebuyers are facing are becoming more deeply entrenched, according to Black Knight‘s most recent monthly mortgage monitor report. “In a sense, the gridlocked housing market has been feeding on itself,” Andy Walden, VP of enterprise research strategy at Black Knight, said. Tightening credit availability, elevated rates, inventory shortages and strengthening home prices […]
It’s been such a different year for inventory from 2023 versus 2022 that we are heading toward an event that would have seemed impossible in earlier years: If the current inventory trend continues, we will see some negative year-over-year inventory data soon for the weekly single-family listing data. the chart below shows the clear trend, […]
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week announced that it had secured a settlement of more than $3 million from Philadelphia, Penn.-based ESSA Bank & Trust over allegations that the company engaged in redlining majority Black and Hispanic communities from access to credit services around the Philadelphia area. According to a complaint filed by […]
Polly, a leading provider of innovative mortgage capital markets technology, recently announced the appointment of industry veteran Cheryl Messner as chief customer officer (CCO). Messner, who has extensive experience and expertise in mortgage fintech, joins Polly as the company experiences significant growth and adoption in the industry. “Polly has revolutionized traditional pricing and loan delivery, […]
Mat Ishbia is optimistic about the mortgage market. The Pontiac, Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) CEO believes that 2022 and 2023 are equally challenging years, but the market will improve in 2024. Meanwhile, 2025 and 2026 will be off the charts. What does Ishbia think about surging mortgage rates, lack of housing inventory and monetary […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) officially implemented an updated pricing framework for Loan-Level Price Adjustments (LLPAs) in May to improve homeownership prospects for first-time homebuyers with lower income and weaker credit scores. It’s a simple goal, but as is often the case in U.S. housing policy, it is being executed in a very complicated […]
Mortgage rates jumped last week amid a debt ceiling impasse and expectations of another federal funds rate hike. However, rates have started to reverse course over the last few days, following news of a debt agreement and an expectation that the Federal Reserve may pause hikes. On the fiscal side, President Joe Biden and House Speaker […]
Connecticut-based lender and servicer Planet Home Lending has acquired the assets of Illinois-based retail lender Platinum Home Mortgage Corporation. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. With the acquisition, Planet will inherit the majority of Platinum’s origination staff and branches throughout the country. The deal also expands Planet’s footprint in the Midwest, Northwest and West Coast […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) submitted for public comment on Wednesday its proposal to create a new partial claim option, a result of its acknowledgment that its current loss mitigation toolkit isn’t enough to support struggling borrowers as rates surge. The Payment Supplement Partial Claim will allow servicers to use the FHA partial claim to bring a […]
Austin-based rent reporting fintech Boom announced on Wednesday that it has raised $4.5 million in a seed round to improve user experience, expand its product offerings and market its app to customers. The seed round was led by Chicago-based venture capital fund Starting Line, followed by Clocktower Technology Ventures, Company Ventures, Gilgamesh Ventures, and Plaid […]
Higher mortgage rates caused by the debt ceiling drama and resilient inflation reduced demand for home loans last week, affecting the already depressed refinancings in particular, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data. The trade group’s market composite Index declined 3.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 26 compared to […]
The debt ceiling deal struck by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday represents momentary relief for the mortgage market, as it reduces the chances of a federal government default. But that’s just the first step in an ongoing effort to avoid the chaos. The deal has to receive Congressional approval before […]
Swiss bank UBS Group AG plans to wind down a business in its US mortgage unit that focuses on “to-be-announced” (TBA) trading, Bloomberg reported late last week. The decision is part of UBS’s strategy to focus more on financing mortgage originators, the outlet said, citing an anonymous source discussing non-public information who asked not to […]
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a buzzword in virtually every industry right now. And, in the mortgage industry, AI will play an instrumental role in helping loan officers to be more efficient, according to Nima Ghamsari, Blend‘s co-founder and CEO. “Some of these borrowers have hundreds of products that they can choose from. How is an […]
New listing data rose last week, according to Debt-ceiling drama pushed bond yields up last week, taking mortgage rates to a new 2023 high in the middle of the spring home-selling season. Active housing inventory, thankfully, saw some decent growth last week. Purchase application data had a second straight week of declines. Here’s a quick […]
Borrowers seeking mortgage financing to purchase a home could find themselves saving $100 a month or more by shopping around, and locating cheaper lenders with which to do business. This is according to a new blog post published this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). By analyzing Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data […]
Texas-based Colonial Savings, F.A. has decided to exit the origination business amid one of the most challenging cycles in decades, provoked by the Federal Reserve‘s tightening monetary policy and a banking crisis. The company will focus on full-servicing banking and mortgage servicing businesses, it announced on Thursday. The origination activity will cease effective July 31, 2023, but all outstanding […]
These days I start every conversation with, “Yes, I have used ChatGPT,” just to get that out of the way for the sake of efficiency. The speed of discourse about Generative AI in all aspects of life from personal to business topics has been astounding. And while the use cases for generative AI as a […]
SoftPro, the nation’s top provider of title, closing, and escrow software, announced on Thursday that it has launched ClosingsLIVE, a cutting-edge communication portal for real estate settlements. The platform grants authorized parties secure access to order status, documents, and milestones, catering to the demands of clients and all transaction participants. “ClosingsLIVE is a gamechanger app […]
Older Americans are sitting on more than $12 trillion in home equity, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA)/Riskspan Reverse Mortgage Market Index. These homeowners are seeking different retirement solutions to help allocate their home equity and make it more durable over the next 20 to 30 years. According to data from Statista, […]
The Federal Reserve‘s monetary tightening policy and the recent banking crisis have the potential to change the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market’s dynamics more than anything seen over the last two decades, according to secondary market experts. The Fed and U.S. banks, which glommed onto these assets in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, are […]
Last week, the U.S. debt ceiling impasse and the resilient economy led mortgage rates to climb to the highest level in two months. Some indexes show the 30-year fixed rate has reached the 7% mark, which has reduced borrowers’ appetite for home loans. The latest MBA data published on Wednesday morning shows that mortgage loan […]
Freddie Mac on Tuesday announced enhancements to its automated income assessment tool—already used for direct deposits—to also include the borrower’s digital paystub data. The government sponsored enterprise said lenders can calculate income faster and more precisely, improving loan quality, simplifying the mortgage process and expanding access to credit. The ability to include paystub data and […]
The growing wave of loan-repurchase requests from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has yet another major wrinkle, industry sources reveal, and this new problem, if accurate as alleged, threatens to disrupt future merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the mortgage-finance industry. This new development is being propelled by an alleged Fannie Mae “request” that, according to industry sources, was […]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives recognize that the wave of loan-repurchase requests represents an added challenge for lenders who already have a stretched balance sheet. However, Fannie Mae’s position is that the loan-repurchase increases are an economic problem, not an underwriting process issue. Meanwhile, Freddie Mac said it’s in talks with lenders to address the problem through […]
Mortgage tech company Blend has launched a soft credit inquiry function for lenders at a time when the industry is facing higher credit report fees. Credit bureaus and Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) upped the cost of pulling a hard credit file starting in 2023. In some cases, the costs have increased by four to five […]
The lack of housing inventory – a major pain point for real estate agents and loan officers – is an issue that Mark Cohen, principal owner of Cohen Financial Group, also sees in the upper end of the Southern California market. The $1 million to $4 million homes market is very competitive, and qualified borrowers […]
Homebuilders, whose sentiment hit the midpoint mark of 50 earlier this month for the first-time since July 2022, have yet another reason to celebrate. The sales pace of new homes has also increased for the fifth consecutive month, according to data published on Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In April, the sales […]
Residential mortgage industry analysts and executives continue to see choppy waters ahead. The banking crisis is still unfolding, impacting the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) space, reducing jumbo loan offerings, and putting pressure on commercial real estate companies. Even if the U.S. debt limit impasse is solved, the U.S. can face a downgrade to its long-term debt, with […]
Residential mortgage industry analysts and executives continue to see challenges ahead. For starters, the banking crisis is still unfolding, impacting the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) space, reducing jumbo loan offerings, and putting pressure on commercial real estate companies. Even if the U.S. debt limit impasse is solved, the U.S. can face a downgrade to its long-term debt, […]
Rocket Mortgage introduced a new 1% down home loan program aiming to target more than 90 million borrowers. Rocket’s new product comes on the heels of rival United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) rolling out a similar program. Dubbed ONE+, a buyer using this program who’s purchasing a single-family home, and whose income is equal to or […]