While other “big four” title insurers discussed the “transitional period” in the housing market during their first quarter 2022 earnings calls with investors, Old Republic International Corp.’s president and CEO, Craig Smiddy decided to take a bolder stance. “I think the way we are looking at refinancing activity right now, is that it is dried […]
Planet Earth has has gone from a ball of molten rock to ice, and then, to the climate we have today. Just like Earth, mortgage rates and housing markets are cyclic and we’re heading into another Ice Age. Find me a sales meeting in the U.S. that didn’t talk about the cycle. There is a […]
Nonbank mortgage lender and servicer Mr. Cooper Group reported net income of $658 million in the first quarter of 2022, increasing its profits by a factor of four compared to the $155 million recorded in the previous quarter. The performance reflects gains with mortgage servicing rights (MSR) and a deal with the fintech Sagent, which offset lower profitability […]
For the fifth consecutive month, pending home sales declined in March from February, down 1.2%, signaling a potential return to “much calmer” conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only the northeast region saw an increase in pending sales in March from February, according to an NAR news release based off data from its […]
Homebuyers can secure a home mortgage using cryptocurrency as collateral through a new partnership between blockchain real estate platform Propy and crypto wallet service Abra. The Abra Borrow platform allows customers to use crypto as collateral to borrow U.S. dollars with flexible repayment terms and interest rates as low as 0%, Propy, a real estate […]
#2022 ” data-image-caption=”” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”700″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?w=1024″ alt=”2022 Layoff” class=”wp-image-335200″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?resize=150,88 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?resize=300,175 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?resize=768,448 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?resize=1024,597 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/newsroom-template_layoffs.png?resize=600,350 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”> Ohio-based Union Home Mortgage is the latest in a string of lenders this week to institute workforce reductions. “The residential housing market has turned quickly due to historically […]
Freddie Mac reported net income of $3.8 billion for the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 37% year-over-year, even as purchase and refinance activity continued to decline. The company’s net worth climbed to $31.7 billion, up nearly $13 billion from the same time last year. Its single-family mortgage portfolio now stands at $1.9 trillion, […]
A combination of home price appreciation, inflation, and low housing inventory continued to dent homebuyers’ ability to buy homes in March. The trend of a decrease in homebuyer affordability is forecast to persist in the coming months, hitting first-time buyers the most. The national median monthly mortgage payment settled in loan applications rose 5% to […]
As the first quarter unfolded, macroeconomic risks created strong headwinds for mortgage companies. The greatest concern is quickly rising mortgage rates, resulting in overall margin compression and essentially a nonexistent market for refinances. Fannie Mae forecasted in early March that mortgage rates would approximate between 3.7% and 3.9% this year, but by April 7, the […]
The pace of purchase-loan originations as well as transactions in the private-label securities market started to slow by the second quarter of this year as interest rates continued to spike, according to mortgage industry experts. One bright spot in the market, however, has been the investment-property sector, where deal flow appears to be holding up, and […]
Amid a challenging time for would-be homebuyers, FinLocker released an updated web experience that aims to make it easier for consumers to see their progress in qualifying for a mortgage loan. The main feature of the firm’s web v3.0 includes the redesign of the dashboard to make frequently used financial tools easier to access for […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency today released Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s long-awaited duty to serve underserved markets plans. In the plans, both government-sponsored enterprises explain how they will provide financing for manufactured and rural housing, and support affordable housing preservation. Although the lesser of the two government-sponsored enterprises by size, Freddie Mac was alone […]
Better.com CEO Vishal Garg ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”726″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?w=1024″ alt=”HW+ vishal garg” class=”wp-image-330967″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?resize=150,91 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?resize=300,182 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?resize=768,465 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?resize=1024,620 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HW-vishal-garg.png?resize=600,363 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Better.com CEO Vishal Garg Struggling to cope with the rising mortgage rate landscape, mortgage lender Better.com reported a loss of $303.8 million in 2021, a stark […]
Michigan-based Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., parent company of Flagstar Bank, has reduced its mortgage staff by 20% since the calendar turned to 2022, laying off 420 employees amid a significant drop in origination volumes and margins. Overall, the bank’s net income in the first quarter of 2022 dropped 60.4% from the prior quarter, to $53 million. […]
First Community Mortgage‘s wholesale division named a new regional sales manager in hopes to continue growth for the firm’s mortgage boutique division. Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based firm tapped Jeff Raich for the position, FCM said Wednesday in a release. Raich has been in the mortgage lending business for more than 25 years and focused on Third-Party Originator […]
Interest in residential mortgage loans fell 8.3% for the week ending April 22, including a sharp decline in purchase applications, which indicates a potential weakness in home sales in the coming months, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association‘s (MBA) latest survey. Mortgage rates are now firmly above the 5% mark, at the highest level since 2009, […]
Nonbank heavyweight loanDepot announced on Tuesday changes in its top management, with founder and chairman Anthony Hsieh no longer leading daily operations to instead take a more strategic role in the company. Hsieh, who is also the loanDepot’s main shareholder, will be the executive chairman, responsible for guiding the company’s strategy. The executive founded the mortgage lender in […]
Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”713″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?w=1024″ alt=”Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW” class=”wp-image-281600″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=150,89 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=300,178 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=768,456 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=1024,608 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jay-Farner-Quicken-Loans-HW.png?resize=600,357 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner Even the biggest mortgage players aren’t immune to the effects of higher rates and tight housing inventory. Rocket Companies, the parent of […]
A rising player in the world of crypto-mortgages and blockchain-enabled financing, LoanSnap, plans expand its reach in the market by opening its lending platform to licensed mortgage brokers across the country in the near future. Karl Jacob, CEO and co-founder of LoanSnap, said the cyrpto-mortgage system his company has developed can originate more than just loans […]
During the market disruption in March 2020, the value of mortgage servicing rights became temporarily disconnected from mortgage rates. Large mortgage sellers and servicers faced severe margin calls, and it took several weeks for them to get the go-ahead from the Federal Housing Finance Agency to draw on their liquidity buffers. It’s a scenario that […]
Ohio-based CrossCountry Mortgage has entered into an agreement to acquire California-based retail lender LendUs, multiple sources familiar with the deal told HousingWire. Founded in 2003 by mortgage broker Ron Leonhardt, CrossCountry originated $52 billion in mortgages in 2021, up 22% year-over-year, checking in as the 17th biggest lender in the country, according to Inside Mortgage […]
Jim Linnane, the former head of retail at Stearns Lending, has joined Flagstar Bank as the president of the company’s distributed retail mortgage division. Linnane, who worked at Wells Fargo for 15 years and also ran national sales at Guaranteed Rate, will head Flagstar’s efforts in strategy, sales, growth, recruitment and operations for the division. […]
In Spokane, Washington, a mortgage loan officer at a regional bank has seen five borrowers qualify for a mortgage for one amount, only to have that number slashed a few months later. “They were approved in December,” he said. “Now they’ve gone from $450,000 down to $325,000.” The reason behind the change, he said, is […]
A Wells Fargo bank branch Wells Fargo & Co., the top depositary mortgage lender in the country, is cutting jobs in its home lending business, just days after reporting weak mortgage earnings in the first quarter of 2022. “The home lending displacements this week are the result of cyclical changes in the broader home lending […]
Nima Ghamsari, CEO and founder of mortgage fintech Blend Labs. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”675″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?w=1024″ alt=”1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022″ class=”wp-image-344336″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x675_Nima_Story_Art_2022.jpg?resize=600,338 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Nima Ghamsari, CEO and founder of mortgage fintech Blend Labs. Publicly traded mortgage tech company Blend Labs isn’t changing its strategy to […]
This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Matthew Blanchard, producing sales manager at Academy Mortgage Corporation. Blanchard previously worked art Loan Depot before joining in growing Academy Mortgage Corporation. Standing proudly since 1988, AMC has continued to build and promote a united culture for the lives of their employees, partners, homeowners, and communities. Below, Blanchard answers questions about […]
The HousingWire award spotlight series highlights the individuals who have been recognized through our Editors’ Choice Awards. Nominations for HousingWire’s Women of Influence award are now open through Friday, April 29, 2022. Click here to nominate someone you know — it can even be you! As interest rates continue to climb and mortgage applications decline, […]
After crossing the 5% threshold last week, mortgage rates have provided no indication that they’ll drop below that mark anytime soon. Rates are moving north for the seventh consecutive week, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS. Purchase mortgages this week averaged 5.11%, up 11 basis points from 5% a week ago. A year ago at this time, […]
A Department of Veterans Affairs lending program for Native American veterans has been severely underutilized, a government watchdog found. According to a report the Government Accountability Office published this week, the VA’s Native American Direct Loan program only resulted in 89 loans originated in the continental U.S. from 2012 to 2021. This represents less than […]
Fannie Mae has lowered its mortgage origination forecasts for 2022 and 2023 due to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive inflation-fighting monetary policy and corresponding volatility in the mortgage market. Fannie’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group dropped its projected single-family mortgage origination volume for 2022 from $3 trillion to $2.8 trillion. It also downsized the […]
Wholesale lender Homepoint is becoming a broker of sorts…for mortgage brokers. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company has launched a referral program aimed at connecting mortgage brokers with regional homebuilders as well as homebuyers. Homepoint’s “New Build program” connects homebuilders with business purpose construction financing through in-region mortgage brokers, with loan amounts up to $4 million […]
At an investor conference last fall, Redwood Trust Inc. CEO Christopher Abate outlined the company’s strategy to expand its reach in existing markets while also seeking out strategic investments in new markets. Those new investments include venture capital plays, particularly in the financial-technology arena. Abate described technology as being key to “building efficiencies” to accomplish the […]
The Federal Housing Administration told mortgage servicers that they can now offer a 40-year loan term as a COVID-19 recovery option. Servicers for FHA-insured mortgages can offer the modification immediately, according to the latest update to FHA’s mortgage lending policies. For now, only borrowers financially impacted by the pandemic can opt for the loss mitigation […]
Bank of America will pay a penalty smaller than the average down payment on a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage, after one of its mortgage loan officers allegedly violated the Fair Housing Act. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hung Tran, one of the bank’s loan officers at its branch in Fairfield, California, allegedly […]
Publicly traded mortgage tech company Blend Labs laid off 10% of its workforce amid major headwinds in the mortgage industry. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday morning, the Nima Ghamsari-led fintech said its “workforce reduction plan” would eliminate approximately 200 positions across the company. The company, whose white-label technology powers […]
An LO with a client at the closing table ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”720″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?w=1024″ alt=”HW-LO-mortgage” class=”wp-image-321719″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?resize=150,90 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?resize=300,180 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?resize=768,461 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?resize=1024,614 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HW-LO-mortgage.png?resize=600,360 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”> The raison d’etre is the same whether you work as a mortgage loan officer at a depository bank or an independent mortgage […]
Top depositary mortgage lender Wells Fargo & Co. announced this week that it has committed $210 million to advance racial equity in homeownership in the United States, following a Bloomberg investigation that found the bank approved fewer than half of Black applicants for a home refinancing in 2020. Kristy Fercho, CEO of Wells Fargo Home […]
Fannie Mae’s national housing survey from last year found that consumers believe that housing in their area is becoming less affordable and more difficult to find, contributing to their lack of enthusiasm to move. According to the survey conducted in the third quarter of 2021, 69% of participants share these sentiments. This marks a 20-plus […]
Wells Fargo Two of the nation’s largest banks – JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo & Co. – had their mortgage businesses hit hard by the higher interest rate landscape in the first quarter of 2022. The financial institutions reported double-digit declines in origination volume and net earnings from January to March, which were partially offset […]
Fannie Mae generated some buzz last week when it announced it would be accepting written attorney opinion letters in lieu of a title insurance policy “in limited circumstances.” HousingWire wondered: just what were those limited circumstances? According to the government sponsored entity, the only transactions ineligible for an attorney title opinion letter are those that […]
Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. What happens when the Federal Reserve begins pulling back in a serious way from the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market that it has helped to prop up through billions of dollars in bond purchases since the start of the pandemic in 2020 — to the point where it now holds a $2.7 trillion agency MBS […]
The 5% threshold has been crossed, and given all the headwinds in the U.S. economy, it doesn’t appear that mortgage rates will be dropping below that mark anytime soon. Purchase mortgages this week averaged 5%, up 28 basis points from 4.72% a week ago, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS. A year ago at […]
Consolidation in the mortgage industry is likely in 2022, analysts and lending executives said. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?w=1024″ width=”1200″ height=”675″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?w=1024″ alt=”1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022 (1)” class=”wp-image-345148″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg 1200w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1200x300_Not_all_will_survive_Art_2022-1.jpg?resize=600,338 600w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”>Consolidation in the mortgage industry is likely in 2022, analysts and lending executives said. Justin Woodward has […]
Data or network protection, business people press shield icon, virus security. Data protection and insurance Business security concepts, information security against virus. binary number 1010. ” data-medium-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AdobeStock_426570472.jpeg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AdobeStock_426570472.jpeg?w=1024″ width=”5538″ height=”3115″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AdobeStock_426570472.jpeg?w=1024″ alt=”Data or network protection, business people press shield icon, virus security. Data protection and insurance Business security concepts, information security against virus. binary number […]
Despite advances in technology, the mortgage industry still lacks efficiency Mortgage executives are aware of a problem: despite billions of dollars in technology investments, the mortgage industry still largely looks like it did two decades ago. After all, it still takes 43 days, on average, to close a loan. “Realistically, it’s still basically the same […]