Agile, a Philadelphia-based fintech company focused on mortgage-backed securities (MBS), announced on Monday the execution of the mortgage industry’s first fully-automated Assignment of Trade (AOT) transaction. AOT transactions involve three counterparties — a mortgage originator, a mortgage investor, and a broker dealer — and are designed to transfer loan collateral and hedge positions to a […]
Fannie Mae has projected that the recent bank failures may act as the catalyst that tips an already precarious economy into a recession — primarily due to the combination of tighter lending standards by small- and mid-sized regional banks. The ongoing banking instability may affect the availability of jumbo mortgages and residential construction loans due […]
Fannie Mae announced on Monday that it has executed two new Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT) deals: CIRT 2023-2 and CIRT 2023-3. The deals, which include over $31 billion in single-family mortgage loans, are designed to reduce risk to taxpayers by increasing the role of private capital in the mortgage market. These are the second […]
At a time of high mortgage rates and inflation, the federal government — along with government-sponsored enterprises — is understandably under pressure to lower costs and make homeownership more accessible. We share the goal of improving housing affordability. However, any effort to lower housing costs should be responsibly examined for potential risks to consumers, lenders […]
One piece of good news last week was that the new listing data, which saw a The financial and housing markets are still trying to sort out the banking crisis and whether we have seen the last Fed rate hike in this cycle. These events led to lower mortgage rates and increased purchase application data […]
ChatGPT, the AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm over the past few months. It took Netflix 3.5 years to reach one million users, Facebook ten months and Spotify five months. ChatGPT got to the first million users in five days. In two months after that, ChatGPT reached 100 million active monthly users. But […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released on Thursday its Fourth Quarter 2022 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report, stating that government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 52,469 foreclosure prevention actions in Q4 2022. That figure increases the total number of GSE-assisted homeowners to 6,712,833 since the start of the conservatorship in September […]
The ongoing tumult in the banking industry brought to light by the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — the second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history, respectively — also threatens liquidity channels for the independent mortgage banks (IMBs). Two banks that rank among the nation’s top warehouse lenders were recently singled out by Moody’s […]
The collapses of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the rescue of First Republic Bank and the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, brought turbulence to the financial markets that led to a decline in mortgage rates – despite the Federal Reserve hiking federal funds rate by 25 basis point on Wednesday. The […]
New home sales continued to rise in February, jumping 1.1% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 640,000 homes, according to data published on Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). On a year-over-year basis, however, new home sales are still down 19.0%. “New home sales increased in February for the third […]
Mortgage prepayment broke a four-month streak of record lows in February, with relief likely to extend as the spring home buying season takes hold, Black Knight’s mortgage performance data showed. “Prepayment activity ticking up slightly in February is an underlying indicator that both refinance and purchase origination volumes may have reached their cyclical lows,” Andy […]
The Federal Reserve‘s decision to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday signaled that officials are still focused on bringing down inflation to 2% while monitoring how much recent bank failures slow lending in the economy and cool demand. Mortgage rates, which climbed upward one day and went down the next […]
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Wednesday that it will lower the VA Native American Direct Loan (NADL) program interest rate from 6% to 2.5% in an effort to make housing loans more affordable for Native American military veterans. The program provides direct loans to Native American veterans and veterans who are […]
The Federal Reserve (Fed) has decided to forge ahead in its fight against inflation, despite several bank closures that have caused turbulence in the financial markets. On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced the decision to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 4.75%-5%. “The U.S. banking system is sound […]
The typical homebuyer’s down payment was down 10% year over year in January 2023, according to a report released Wednesday by Redfin. The report is based on data collected by Redfin from county record across 40 of the most populous metropolitan areas. Redfin found that the typical U.S. homebuyer made a $42,375 down payment in […]
Consumer demand for home loans rose for the third consecutive week due to declining mortgage rates, following the turbulence in the financial markets caused by regional bank failures. But the same bank crisis is bringing volatility to the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, preventing mortgage rates from going down even further, according to industry experts. The 10-year U.S. […]
Existing home sales had a huge beat of estimates on Tuesday. This wasn’t shocking for people who follow how I track housing data. To understand why we had such a beat in sales, you only need to go back to Nov. 9, when mortgage rates started to fall from 7.37% to 5.99%. During November, December […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday released a new guidebook that highlights support for the expansion of high-speed broadband internet service to public housing authorities, multifamily owners and operators, and Native American tribal communities in urban and rural areas. The guidebook outlines the funding program mechanics and how these areas […]
Mortgage CRM company Daily AI has rebranded to Aidium Mortgage CRM and launched a new CRM product, the company announced on Monday. The company’s research and analysis suggested that a rebranding, which includes updates to core products, the company’s website, marketing and communications, will represent its goals and solutions for the mortgage industry, according to […]
Lender and appraisal management companies and other property data collection companies can now use Black Knight‘s Scout mobile property inspection as part of the value acceptance plus property data process. With the cloud-based Scout app, users can easily collect detailed interior and exterior property data using a mobile device, Black Knight said Tuesday. “By using […]
Retail lender Guild Mortgage announced Monday that Mary Ann McGarry is retiring from the CEO position in late June, remaining on the California-based lender’s board of directors after retirement. Terry Schmidt, Guild’s current president, is the successor. McGarry joined Guild in 1984 as a supervisor in internal audit and held several leadership positions until promoted to president […]
Cloud-based loan origination system LendingPad has integrated with Aduvo, which provides mortgage marketing automation solutions. “In planning for the launch of Aduvo, our team knew that a partnership with LendingPad would be a strategic move for our company,” said Aduvo founder Josh Bopp in a prepared statement. Users can choose to sign up with Aduvo, […]
Black Knight, Inc. on Monday announced that Frontwave Credit Union will now implement Empower, Black Knight’s cloud-based loan origination system, and its integrated solutions, for the expansion of its mortgage lending operations. The integration with Black Knight’s digital ecosystem will give Frontwave access to technology, data and analytics solutions. These include its Optimal Blue PPE; […]
Flagstar Bank, a top-20 U.S. mortgage lender owned by New York Community Bancorp, announced on Sunday that it has assumed most deposits and acquired certain assets, business lines and liabilities of Signature Bridge Bank, N.A. from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Signature Bank, a New York-based large multifamily lender that disastrously bet big on […]
The housing market was crazy again last week. Mortgage rates fell as the banking crisis got worse and purchase application data grew for the second week in a row, but the big question is: Did we hit the seasonal bottom in housing inventory? Here’s a quick rundown of the last week: The 10-year yield had […]
Candor Technology Inc., a mortgage artificial intelligence firm focused on automated mortgage underwriting decisions, has conducted layoffs as lenders rush to cut costs. “Candor is executing a change in strategy to address the ever-changing mortgage market and to pivot along with client operations,” Tom Showalter, CEO of Candor, said in an e-mailed response. With various […]
Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks spilled red ink in the fourth quarter of 2022 amid a jump in mortgage rates. These companies reported a net loss of $2,812 on each loan originated from October to December, an increase of more than four times the average per-loan loss of $624 in […]
California mortgage tech firm Blend Labs is focused on cutting costs and courting more users to its Blend Builder platform. The goal is to bring the firm to profitability after posting a net loss of $768.6 million in 2022. Blend’s net loss last year is more than four times the $171.3 million loss it incurred […]
A group of 11 U.S. banks has agreed to make $30 billion in deposits at First Republic Bank to avoid another regional bank failure. The rescue comes after Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed amid a liquidity crisis caused by a deposit run. “Today, 11 banks announced $30 billion in deposits […]
After increasing steadily for over a month, mortgage rates fell last week following a deposit run that provoked a liquidity crisis in regional U.S. financial institutions — and resulted in the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. But what is there to expect ahead for the housing market? Industry observers said that, at […]
How is today’s housing starts data, which beat expectations, good for mortgage rates? Typically good economic data is bad for rates, especially in this environment, when a Fed member will come out and say building or buying homes is bad for fighting inflation. The answer is simple: The best way to fight inflation long-term is […]
First Republic Bank, the fourth-largest non-agency jumbo lender in America, is exploring strategic options, including a sale and a capital infusion, and is expected to attract interest from larger rivals, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter. No decision has been made, and the bank can remain independent, people who requested anonymity […]
Closing software provider Qualia has announced a major update to its software offerings. On Thursday, the firm announced the launch of Qualia Atlas. According to Qualia, Atlas combines title and escrow production, as well as vendor management, along with client and homebuyer connectivity. “We originally launched Qualia almost 10 years ago with the belief that […]
Following a chorus of complaints from the mortgage industry, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Wednesday announced that it would delay the implementation of a new and controversial upfront fee on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers with higher debt-to-income ratios. The upfront pricing fee on DTI ratios of 40% or more – part of […]
Despite the volatile mortgage rate environment and overall economic uncertainty, homebuilder confidence slowly continues to rise, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report, released Wednesday. In March, homebuilder sentiment in the market for newly built single-family homes rose two points from February’s reading, to an index value of 44. This is […]
The Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures that occurred over the last week have caused even more uncertainty within the mortgage industry. Still, homebuyers took advantage of declining rates provoked by the turbulence and applied for home loans. Meanwhile, mortgage lenders are still trying to calm down their investors and business partners. The recent […]
On Tuesday, we got more confirmation that the Federal Reserve‘s biggest fear — inflation blowing up to 1970s levels — isn’t happening, according to the CPI data. Even with its most significant component, shelter inflation, keeping core CPI higher than it should be, it’s been hard to accelerate the core data. However, with the current […]
Wisconsin-based Waterstone Mortgage Corp. has promoted Jennifer George to vice president of investor relations and credit policy, the company said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Her industry knowledge, leadership capabilities, and positive attitude make her an ideal fit for her new role,” said Waterstone Mortgage COO Rich Tucker. “Combining her love of research, knowledge of […]
March came in like a lion for the banking industry with a trio of bank failures, including the nation’s 16th largest bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), with assets of $212 billion. The other banks laid to rest in early March were crypto-friendly lenders Silvergate Capital Corp. ($11.4 billion in assets) and Signature Bank ($110 billion in assets). The bank failures set […]
Ravi Patel, a top loan officer and former senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate, and his team, have moved to UMortgage, according to a statement issued on Monday. “Winners in this industry want to join our platform because we’re identifying the acute pain points of loan originators of different backgrounds—whether that be […]
Despite affordability challenges, the Hispanic homeownership rate reached 48.6% in 2022, the eighth consecutive year of growth. Latinos added a net total of 349,000 homeowner households last year, which is one of the largest single year gains over the last decade, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) said in its 2022 state […]
Retail lender Guild Mortgage announced the acquisition of Cherry Creek Mortgage, a privately-held Colorado-based lender with 68 branches in 45 states. Cherry Creek will become its own division of Guild, headed by co-founder Jeff May, Guild said on Monday. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Established in 1987, Cherry Creek offers a wide […]
Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week, the biggest bank failure since Washington Mutual in 2008, two other American banks with significant roles in the housing industry were hit by a deposit run. Signature Bank closed its doors on Sunday, the same day First Republic Bank announced fresh access to capital to fund […]
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has named former Fannie Mae CEO and Blend president Tim Mayopoulos as CEO of Silicon Valley Bank N.A., an FDIC-operated “bridge bank” meant to protect all depositors of the now shut-down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). While the FDIC — an independent government agency that insures bank deposits and overseas […]
Rate and affordability pressures continue to challenge purchase lending, driving homebuyers to alternative loan products. The number of rate locks was down in February from the previous month, but dollar volume rose due to a rate environment that favored non-conforming loans including jumbo loans and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), according to Black Knight’s originations market report. Pipeline […]