Digital mortgage lender and nonbank home loan provider Better.com has launched “Equity Unlocker,” a mortgage innovation that allows employees to pledge vested stock equity as collateral for a down payment without selling their stock. “At Better, our mission is to make homeownership cheaper, faster and easier for all Americans,” Better CEO and founder Vishal Garg […]
RMK Financial Corporation, which does business as Majestic Home Loans, has been permanently banned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from the mortgage lending industry following a series of repeat offenses — which occurred despite the CFPB’s law enforcement order issued in 2015. The CFPB issued the initial agency order against RMK for, among […]
Successful negotiation begins within. It may seem surprising, yet this is what we’ve found true in our experience at the junction between financial services and technology. The first step in securing the best outcome for yourself, your enterprise and the people you serve is to not talk yourself out of things. Yes, it might seem […]
We created the weekly Housing Market Tracker because housing data has been so wild since 2020. The housing market madness persisted last week as inventory fell and higher mortgage rates took a bigger bite out of purchase application data. Here is a quick rundown from last week: Purchase applications fell 18% week to week and […]
January’s pending home sales picked up right where they left off in 2022, posting the second consecutive month of increases, according to data released Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). After posting a 2.5% month-over-month increase in December, the Pending Home Sales Index rose 8.1% month over month in January to a reading of 82.5. […]
Mortgage lender CRM and marketing automation solutions provider Insellerate has launched a new third party origination (TPO) solution for wholesale lenders, the company announced on Monday during ICE Experience. Insellerate TPO will provide account executive workflows, marketing content, pipeline management at the company and individual broker levels and other services, according to a statement from […]
While the homebuilders weren’t surprised by the better-than-estimated new home sales report released Friday, some people were a bit shocked. But the forward-looking purchase application data was getting better from Nov. 9 up until the early part of February as mortgage rates fell from 7.37% to 5.99%. Now, of course, that has all changed quickly. […]
It is crunch time in the housing industry. Sadly, for some organizations, that means there have been job losses and cutbacks that leave some former employees wondering, “What’s next?” Whether you’ve been affected by industry layoffs or you’re future-proofing your career, applying for new positions and interviewing can be daunting. Certain careers, like underwriting, come […]
10 years ago, HousingWire kicked off the first ever Rising Stars award and since then, the program has been showcasing massive talent in housing year after year. The award recognizes leaders and young talent who are moving markets forward through a variety of roles in the housing economy. And this year, HW Rising Stars is […]
New home sales started off 2023 on a positive note, rising 7.2% from December to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 670,000 homes, according to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday. This marks the second consecutive month of increases and the strongest sales pace since March 2022. […]
LenderLogix, a provider of mortgage automation software and application programming interfaces (APIs), has launched LiteSpeed, a white-label streamlined point-of-sale (POS) system that serves small- to mid-sized mortgage lenders. Patrick O’Brien, the founder and CEO of LenderLogix, said the product was designed in response to the need for a more efficient and cost-effective method of managing […]
Despite the closed title purchase order volume dropping 36% year over year and the number of closed refinance orders dropping 79% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, Fidelity National Financial still managed to record a strong Q4 in 2022. “Our title business has continued to perform well despite the fall off in mortgage originations […]
Wells Fargo, the largest depository mortgage lender in America, issued pink slips to employees in its home lending business on Tuesday following its decision to exit the correspondent channel. “I can’t provide any specifics but we announced in January strategic plans to create a more focused Home Lending business,” Tom Goyda, senior vice president of […]
A week after canceling its quarterly earnings results without explanation, Freddie Mac on Wednesday disclosed a net profit of $1.76 billion in the fourth quarter. That figure was a sequential gain on the $1.3 billion in net income recorded in the third quarter of 2022, though it represented a 36% decline from a year prior. […]
Leading property data and analytics company CoreLogic has acquired Roostify, a digital mortgage technology provider. “By integrating Roostify’s digital mortgage technology platform with CoreLogic’s robust data, analytics and workflow solutions, clients will gain critical information about borrowers and properties at the beginning of the loan process, saving both time and money,” CoreLogic said in a […]
It’s proving to be a brutal February for the mortgage industry, with mortgage demand falling for the third time in four weeks. At a time when purchase activity typically ramps up, the latest mortgage application data is showing that mortgage demand is dropping due to mortgage rates climbing back up. Mortgage applications decreased 13.3% for […]
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 Rising Stars are open now through Friday, February 24, 2023. Click here to nominate your organization. HousingWire’s Rising Stars award recognizes housing professionals 40 years old and younger who are making […]
The residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market took a beating in 2022, nearly stalling as the year came to an end — on the heels of interest rates jumping more than 3 percentage points over the first half of 2022. That dramatic rate volatility wreaked havoc on spreads and RMBS deal execution — and created cash-flow challenges […]
California lender New American Funding has promoted Patty Arvielo to CEO, becoming co-CEOs with her husband Rick. Christy Bunce will succeed Arvielo as president. “Patty Arvielo had served as president of the company before being elevated to the co-CEO position but in effect has always conducted herself as co-CEO for NAF because of her and […]
Last June, the Federal Reserve said it wanted a housing reset, which meant it wanted higher mortgage rates to destroy the housing market. This facilitated the biggest decline in existing home sales for a single year that we will ever see in modern-day history due to the high level of sales in January of 2022. […]
Miami-based fintech provider LoanPASS has integrated with ICE Mortgage Technology, a division of global data, technology, and market infrastructure provider Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE). The goal of the integration is to allow mutual clients to access LoanPASS’ products and pricing engine (PPE) via ICE Mortgage Technology’s end-to-end digital lending platform Encompass, according to a statement […]
The industry is buzzing with conversations around appraisal modernization — for good reason. Appraisal modernization reduces origination cycle time, bolsters appraiser capacity and helps lenders deliver a more seamless and transparent borrower experience. It also holds great promise in attracting a new generation of bright, talented appraisers who may have otherwise not given the mortgage […]
The mortgage industry started 2023 with optimism due to an increase in housing activity. However, the celebrations may have to wait, as the fundamentals point to further weaknesses ahead of an expected recession in the second quarter of this year, according to Fannie Mae. “Recent data have been stronger than expected in ways that we […]
Finance of America Companies (FOA) has entered into an agreement to sell the operational assets of its Finance of America Commercial vertical to Roc Capital Holdings LLC. The deal will offload an FoA subsidiary division that offers residential real estate investment loans. Roc Capital is expected to pay FOA an “aggregate purchase price” over a […]
Another week down in 2023 and we’re seeing crazier action in the housing market as purchase application data fell, mortgage rates rose again, and weekly inventory took another dive with a noticeable move lower in new listing data. Here is a quick rundown from last week: Purchase applications fell 6% weekly as the market digested […]
Fintech Figure Technologies will partner with NovaWulf Digital Management to provide blockchain technology solutions for a proposed reorganization of troubled crypto lender Celsius. The partnership was made public by Figure on Thursday and comes a day after an announcement from Celsius — which filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 — that it will be acquired […]
Rent-to-own startup Divvy Homes has reportedly conducted a new round of layoffs on Wednesday, which included cuts to a number of high-level positions. This is at least the second round of layoffs for the company in the last six months. Divvy has yet to confirm the layoffs, which were first reported by Inman. However, a […]
Americans’ debt balances continued to compound in 2022 as inflation put pressure on budgets and the cost of borrowing increased. Aggregate household debt, which includes all outstanding credit market debt held by consumers, increased by $394 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022 alone, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York‘s Q4 Household […]
Brady Torgerson, former president of First Security Bank-West, was sentenced to two years in prison for two counts of bank fraud he conducted between 2019 and 2021 when working for the North Dakota-based bank and Union Bank as a loan officer. Three others were also sentenced in connection to the fraud. When Torgerson was president […]
Mike Simonsen, president of Altos Research, will share his data-focused insights on the housing market at Gathering of Eagles 2023. Join Simonsen and other data-obsessed attendees for a “Power Lunch,” on Tuesday, June 20. There’s no need to eat lunch alone at Gathering of Eagles. During Simonsen’s presentation, not only will you break bread with […]
Looking at the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo homebuilder confidence data and builder stock prices, I can say the homebuilders got very lucky this time around in the middle of a housing recession. There is one simple reason for this: it’s not 2008. They have less competition as they are working from low sales levels in today’s […]
The overall national mortgage delinquency rate rose in the fourth quarter of 2022, due in part to a weaker economy and ongoing inflationary pressures. The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one- to four-unit residential properties rose 51 basis points from the previous quarter to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.96% of all loans outstanding […]
LauraMac, a provider of mortgage loan review SaaS technology, has appointed Rick Seehausen as its chief strategy officer. In his new role, Seehausen will work with the leadership team at LauraMac, overseeing strategic planning and developing new and existing products. “I have known and worked with Rick for more than a decade and am delighted […]
Black Knight will integrate Wolters Kluwer‘s eNote and eVault capabilities in order to cut lenders’ costs per transaction and secure their clients’ electronically signed assets. The two firms signed an agreement to combine Wolters Kluwer’s eNote and eVault solutions with Expedite Close — Black Knight’s digital closing solution — as the final pieces to connect […]
With economic uncertainty and supply chain issues plaguing the industry, homebuilders pulled back last month. Homes were started at an estimated annual pace of 1.309 million in January, down 4.5% month over month, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing starts were down 21.4% […]
California-based retail lender American Pacific Mortgage (APM) has made leadership changes while continuing to eye expansion in the Midwest and Southeast. Bill Lowman was named vice chairman of APM, a newly created position while Ned Payment was promoted to chief executive officer from president of APM. Dustin Sheppard also moved up the ladder to president […]
After Celebrity Home Loans reportedly laid off most of its employees this week without paying their last paychecks, commissions and severance payments, On Q Financial said the deal to acquire some of the company’s assets has fallen apart. “There’s nothing left to acquire,” Patrick Lamb, an executive at On Q Financial, said during an interview. […]
Roughly a year after Mortgage Coach and Sales Boomerang were acquired by a private equity firm, they’ve merged their services onto one platform and rebranded to “TrustEngine.” The company unification and new platform come as mortgage origination volume falters and lenders struggle to stay afloat in a high mortgage rate environment. The TrustEngine Borrower Intelligence […]
Texas-based mortgage lender Click n’ Close announced on Tuesday that its primary technology partner, Alabama-based mortgage banker Barr Group Mortgage, has completed the first eNote transaction using the Click n’ Close non-delegated correspondent eNote program. “Working with Ameris Bank’s warehouse division SVP Jill Gainer helped ensure the set-up process was straightforward, and our first two […]
Expectations that high inflation may persist for longer than previously projected put pressure on mortgage rates last week. In turn, it affected borrowers’ appetite for home loans. The latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey showed that mortgage loan application volume declined 7.7% for the week ending Feb. 10 from the previous week. Compared to the […]
Given the hotter inflation reported in Tuesday’s CPI data, can mortgage rates go above the 2022 peak of 7.37%? Initially the 10-year yield fell after the report, then rose higher, only to fall back down again. For all the hype around today’s stock market close, it was a dud of a Valentine’s date if you ask […]
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) wants small banks to be exempted from the proposed rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that order registry for nonbank financial services providers. In December, the CFPB published a proposed rule that would require certain nonbank covered entities to report certain public agency enforcement actions and […]
Six months after shutting down its correspondent lending division, Illinois-based mortgage company Celebrity Home Loans‘ bread-and-butter retail channel is also at risk, multiple sources told HousingWire. According to former employees and business partners, several Celebrity’s retail branches transitioned to another lender in December and January. Celebrity is also in talks to strike a deal with […]
Earnings at Fannie Mae in 2022 sank to $12.9 billion as the housing market deteriorated, down dramatically from $22.1 billion in 2021, the government sponsored enterprise reported Tuesday. Last year’s $9.3 billion decrease in net income was primary driven by an $11.4 billion decline in home prices and a $1.6 billion shift to investment losses, […]
Timothy Bowler, president of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Benchmark Administration (IBA), will take on a new role as president of ICE Mortgage Technology starting on March 1. Bowler will be in charge of ICE’s business segment, which is focused on automating elements of the mortgage industry and delivered a revenue of $1.1 billion in 2022, the […]