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
Navigating capacity concerns amidst record-high volumes
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
Townstone Financial files motion to dismiss CFPB redlining lawsuit
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
The Three Cs of Post-Forbearance
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
Luxury housing market inspires ‘total frenzy’ in vacation boom towns
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
Lone Wolf Technologies plans to accelerate growth with investment from Stone Point Capital
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
FHA unveils Automated Underwriting System as part of modernization initiative
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
Why lenders should text their prospects
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
How to Calculate Net Operating Income
You can calculate net operating income (NOI) for your real estate investment by using the generally accepted net operating income formula, which is your potential rental income plus any additional property-related income minus vacancy losses minus total operating expenses. Keep
People movers: Opendoor, Incenter, LRES
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
Hours before its IPO fizzled, Guild Mortgage agreed to pay $25M to settle federal lawsuit
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
Confessions of a #1
Securing the #1 spot as a top performer may not be easy, but it’s possible. Success isn’t necessarily something that just happens to you. It’s actually, quite the contrary. When you get the opportunity to learn the ropes from others
The housing bubble boys blew it in 2020
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,
Docutech purchase drives First American information revenue up 38%
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 Title acquires valuation services company Pro Teck
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
Dallas Real Estate Market Overview & Forecast
The Dallas housing market has recovered from the impact of the pandemic. Before this ongoing crisis, Dallas was a balanced real estate market. It was doing pretty well. But in May, residential sales in Dallas County had fallen 35 percent
Existing home sales surge 9.4% in September
Sales of existing homes took off in September, jumping 9.4% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million, the National Association of Realtors said in a report on Thursday. Compared to a year ago, sales are up 20.9%. “Home
Deepening Inventory Shortage Slows Home Sales Even Further
This Zillow Weekly Market Report includes housing market data as of the week ending Oct. 17. Go to Source Author:
The number of seriously delinquent mortgages falls for the first time since the pandemic hit
The number of seriously delinquent mortgages fell by 43,000 in September – the first drop in mortgages 90-days past due since the beginning of the pandemic, Black Knight said in a report on Thursday. According to the report, more than
Mortgage rates hit another record low this week
The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 2.8% this week, another record low, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday. The rate fell one basis points from the week prior and is now six basis points
What MBA’s forecast means for mortgage originators
The MBA’s economic research team of Dr. Michael Fratantoni and his staff made national news at the MBA’s annual virtual convention, releasing a projection for 2020 of $3.18 trillion, the second-largest origination year in U.S. history next to 2003. It’s
Stressed About Buying in a Hot Sellers Market? Here’s How to Score Your Dream Home
Don’t be intimidated by the hot housing market. Zillow breaks down what home buyers need to know before jumping into the market to score their dream home. Go to Source Author:
Uniformity will be critical to RON adoption
As the mortgage industry moves toward increasing adoption of remote online notarization, a panel of experts at the Mortgage Bankers Association Annual conference said uniformity will be key. Speaking at the session titled “Strategy & Technology Track: COVID Hit. Social
Ahead of its IPO, Caliber gives its private equity owner $300M in cash
Lone Star Funds‘ residential mortgage lender Caliber Home Loans hopes to raise up to $538 million at its highly anticipated public debut next week, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchanges Commission on Wednesday. Caliber, based in Coppell,