Finance of America posted steep losses in the second quarter and has pledged to eliminate a significant percentage of its workforce to contain the financial fallout. As with other lenders seeing huge declines in mortgage origination volume, Finance of America’s
Rocket’s earnings plummet, but its liquidity remains solid
During this period of rising rates and general rate volatility, having the cash and credit lines on hand to ride out the rough patches in the market — known as liquidity — can be what separates the winners from the
Mortgage delinquency rate rebounds after hitting record lows
The national mortgage delinquency rate rose in June after hitting consecutive record lows in each of the previous three months. The overall delinquency rate rose nine basis points to 2.84% in June, according to Black Knight. The delinquency rate is
Texana Bank to trim workforce in California
Pink slips will arrive for 58 employees working in the mortgage business at Texana Bank in California, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) sent to the state’s Employment Development Department. Lauren Witherspoon, director of human resources, wrote: “Circumstances will force
The nation’s housing market is on a correction course
Rising interest rates and a slowing economy overall are already taking some of the air out of the rapid home-price appreciation the housing market has experience over the past year, according to the recently released Federal Reserve Beige Book for July. Several
Even in a down market, lenders lean on LO signing bonuses
Gone are the days that loan originators received hefty signing bonuses to crank out refi after refi. But make no mistake, even in a down mortgage market lenders are still dangling signing bonuses to recruit high-producing LOs who can eat
Even super hot housing markets like LA are cooling off
Our local market feature spotlights five different areas across the country for each HousingWire Magazine. Local real estate agents, loan officers and appraisers from each city share what characteristics are currently defining their housing markets. Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid
Houston fugitives in custody on mortgage fraud charges
Three alleged charlatans from Houston have been nabbed by federal authorities and taken into custody on charges related to mortgage fraud, credit repair and government loan fraud, the Department of Justice said on Friday. The DOJ claims that Heather Ann
HW+ Member Spotlight: Omar Ennabe
This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Omar Ennabe, who serves as president at Ennkar, a reverse mortgage lender. Below, Ennabe answers questions about the housing industry: HousingWire: What is your current favorite HW+ article and why? Omar Ennabe: I enjoy reading anything Chris Clow
Marcia Davies to speak at HW Annual Oct. 3-5
Women are not only dominating in the mortgage and real estate industry, but also they are making room at the table for a new generation of women to do the same. To help fuel this growth for future and current
GSEs bolster diversity with senior hires
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week made two senior hires that increase diversity in leadership at the enterprises, where the leadership skews toward white and male. At Freddie Mac, Dennis Hermonstyne Jr., who previously worked at Santander Bank,
Guaranteed Rate moves beyond mortgage
Guaranteed Rate is looking to diversify its product mix amid the mortgage downturn. The mortgage lender has rolled out its first personal loan product. Customers can apply for personal loans in 10 minutes and receive funds between $4,000 and $50,000
Fannie Mae notches two more CIRT deals
Fannie Mae has executed two new Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT) deals — the seventh and eighth of 2022 — dubbed CIRT 2022-7 and CIRT 2022-8. The two transactions convey a combined $1 billion in mortgage credit risk to private insurers
Flyhomes lays off 20% of its employees as housing demand falls
Flyhomes is the latest venture capital-fueled real estate company to fall victim to the slowdown in the housing market, opting to lay off 20% of its staff this week. To operate in a fiscally “prudent and sustainable” manner in the
Movement’s Casey Crawford joins board of Live Oak
Live Oak Bancshares and its subsidiary Live Oak Bank have appointed Casey Crawford, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Movement Mortgage, to its board of directors. North Carolina-based Live Oak Bank’s goal is to be “America’s small business bank,”
Non-QM lenders are racing to stay ahead of rates
Non-QM lender First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the end of June — leaving four warehouse lenders on the hook for more than $415 million. Sprout Mortgage imploded in early July, leaving its employees
Last call for Vanguard Nominations
HousingWire’s Vanguard award program honors executives in housing who have become leaders in their respective fields and are moving markets forward, each and every day. And today marks the last day of the 2022 nomination period for this prestigious award.
Mortgage application volume dips 1.7% led by decline in purchase mortgages
Demand for mortgages declined for the second consecutive week, led by a dip in purchase mortgage applications — despite rates on a downward trend. The market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.7% for the week ending
Why you should attend HW Annual Oct. 3-5 in Scottsdale
Volatile mortgage rates and economic uncertainty have rocked the housing market this year, challenging mortgage lenders, real estate agents, title companies and appraisal firms to adapt quickly to changing conditions. That’s why we’ve designed our HW Annual event Oct. 3-5
Pennymac locks mortgage rates up to 90 days 
California-based Pennymac launched a product that can freeze mortgage rates as many as 90 days, in a bid to attract more borrowers to the market amid volatile rates. Dubbed “Lock & Shop,” the product, rolled out in mid-June, has two
Mortgage credit availability falls 0.3% in June
Lenders continued to tighten credit standards in June as higher mortgage rates slowed refinance and purchase activity. The monthly Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) fell by 0.3% in June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. A decline of the index,
The hybrid appraisal is here. Who benefits?
Luke Tomaszewski, an appraiser doing home inspections in the aftermath of the housing bust, was traveling as much as an hour across Chicago just to snap exterior photos of bank-owned properties. Sitting in traffic, Tomaszewski wished he could pay an
VA official talks future of partial claims and revamping its reputation
In a few months, the loss mitigation measures that have kept close to 100,000 veterans from foreclosure during COVID-19 will end. Decisions of policymakers at the Department of Veterans Affairs will determine what happens to those borrowers. The VA also faces challenges
Qualia releases Qualia Connect for mortgage lenders
Digital real estate closing platform, Qualia, announced the release of a new mortgage lender edition of its Qualia Connect platform on Tuesday. According to Qualia, this release means that the Connect platform will now be able to integrate directly into