Author: Michael Gersitz

HousingWire recently spoke with MCS CEO Caroline Reeves about self-service technology, the shift to virtual events and how servicers can prepare for post-COVID success by improving processes today.    HousingWire: What role has technology played in servicers’ ability to react

The U.S. forbearance rate measuring the share of mortgages with suspended payments fell slightly to 5.9% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Though the rate fell 2 basis points, the decline has begun to slow after two weeks of what MBA’s

The one economic sector that has blown away my estimates this year has been the new home sales market. I predicted peak year-to-date growth of 4.7% but this was before COVID-19, which temporarily crushed bond yields and mortgage rates. This

When it comes to common pain points lenders are seeing in the second half of 2020, handling high loan volumes continues to loom large. Of course, it’s a good problem to have, but difficult to navigate in terms of scalable

On Monday, Townstone Financial Inc., a Chicago-based nonbank retail mortgage lender, filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed against the company in July. The July 15 complaint alleged that Townstone violated the Equal Credit

Many Americans continue to experience economic hardships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an October 5, 2020, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) estimate, 3.4 million homeowners are on a forbearance plan and more than 70% of those loans

In the third quarter, luxury home sales jumped 41.5%, the biggest year-over-year shift since 2013, according to Redfin. And while real estate agents repping luxury homes aren’t seeing as many bidding wars as they did this summer, their respective housing

Stone Point Capital has purchased Vista Equity Partners’ stake in real estate software company Lone Wolf Technologies. Stone Point will become Lone Wolf’s lead institutional investor, powering the next phase of its growth and expanding its product offering, the company

The Federal Housing Administration announced on Wednesday the launch of its first automated underwriting system that will allow lenders to submit loan application data electronically for single family forward mortgages from their loan origination systems to FHA for mortgage insurance

HousingWire recently spoke with Verse founder and CEO David Tal about the lead conversion gap and how Verse is helping lenders engage and nurture leads. HousingWire: What’s causing the gap between sales and marketing? David Tal: The massive gap between

Kicking off people movers for the week, Opendoor announced it hired a new chief investment officer, naming Daniel Morillo to lead the iBuyer’s pricing and data science efforts. As chief investment officer, Morillo will oversee the strategy and development of

Just before its stock debuted at a disappointing $15 a share, Guild Mortgage settled a federal lawsuit that claimed the lender knowingly breached legal requirements when it originated and underwrote FHA loans. Guild agreed to settle the federal lawsuit, brought

The NAR existing home sales report released today blew out all estimates with 6,540,000 in existing home sales. This epic headline punctured any 2020 bubbles the housing bubble boys had left in their arsenal. But before we get too excited,

Earlier this year, First American made its latest move toward a fully digital mortgage with its purchase of mortgage tech firm Docutech. Now, that purchase is driving up the company’s revenues. The company rebranded to First American Docutech in September

Stewart Appraisal Management, a subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp., announced on Thursday it acquired valuation services company Pro Teck Valuation Intelligence. Stewart is looking to strengthen and expand its scale in the appraisal and valuation solutions space. With more