Author: Michael Gersitz

Another week, another drop in forbearance volume. Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume fell two basis points to 3.48% from 3.50% last week, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.  Approximately 1.74 million homeowners are in forbearance plans, the MBA reported. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie

“I feel the need…the need for speed.” – Maverick (Top Gun) With the increasing “need-for-speed” at which the lending community moves, keeping up is a constant task that never gets any easier. New entrants continue to join the market with

New home sales continued to slip in June, falling 6.6% from May to a pace of only 676,000, according to a recent study from the U.S. Census. It’s the third straight month of decreases and the first annual decline since

With the foreclosure moratorium for federally backed mortgages set to expire next week, the Biden administration is giving borrowers additional options to reduce their mortgage payments. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Department

Three of the “Big Four” title insurers — First American Financial, Old Republic and Stewart Title — released their second-quarter earnings this week. Fidelity National will release its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 3. First American reported $2.3 billion in total

After an epic rise in housing starts and permits from the COVID-19 lows, the latest Census report shows a calm after the housing storm. This report is consistent with my prediction that all housing data will moderate from the epic run-up

Mortgage professionals never know what the industry will throw at them, so staying on top of market shifts can help originators prepare for what’s to come. De-risking efforts by GSEs, migration shifts, demographic changes and more are pushing the market

HousingWire recently sat down with Matthew Marx, CEO of Evocalize, to learn more about the importance of lead gen and referrals in a hot housing market. HousingWire: In an already high origination volume environment, why should lenders put an emphasis

KW Expansion Network will support business operations of the U.S.-based KW real estate expansion teams. Keller Williams has long been hailed as one of the first to embrace the team business model in real estate. The newly launched KW Expansion

Ransomware attackers hit major title industry cloud services provider Cloudstar, stopping an untold number of loans from closing on Monday. The ramifications for the title and mortgage industry may extend beyond the immediately impacted loan applications. Late Monday afternoon, Cloudstar’s

Housing starts increased 6.3% to a rate of 1.64 million in June, as construction companies broke ground on a greater number of both single-family and multifamily buildings last month. But crucial supply issues are preventing future builds from getting off

Mortgage applications for new home purchases in June decreased 3% from May and 23.8% year over year, suggesting a slowdown in the housing market, according to a recent report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. New single-family home sales were reported

Blend Labs‘ life as a public company is off to a promising start. Late last week, Blend sold 20 million shares of Class A stock at $18 apiece, raising $360 million. Shares closed trading at $20.90, giving Blend a valuation

As Chief Strategy Officer at Mortgage Capital Trading, Leslie Winick has harnessed her industry experience to help lead new technology innovations and industry-leading support that allowed MCT to continue to meet client needs despite the volatility of the past year.

For the 20th straight week, servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume dropped — this time a staggering 26 basis points, to 3.50% in the period ending July 11, per a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.  According to MBA’s estimate, 1.75 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

Now that we have clarity around the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and as the president considers installing a new permanent director, an opportunity arises for the next evolution in housing finance policy. But success for either