The government, the agencies, consumer groups, and trade organizations are all looking for more ways to increase homeownership. The homeownership rate has hit a wall and seems to be stagnant at its lowest levels in the past 50 years. In part, this is due to fewer homes now on the market for sale, with even fewer in the ‘affordable’ category;…
With refinances seemingly having run their course and a shortage of homes for sale, the forecast for mortgage lending is not so good. A recent lender survey by Fannie Mae revealed that it’s no surprise that many lenders are pessimistic about profit margins. They believe there will be continued consolidation of lenders with major competition among those who remain, compounded…
Will the loan originators, as we know them today, be replaced by technology anytime soon? That is one of the big questions on many a lender’s and LO’s minds. Lenders have long struggled with the challenges of hiring, training, retaining, and paying top notch loan originators. The LO’s share of what the lender’s loan profit has been increasing and for…
A tight inventory of existing homes for sale seems to be spurring an uptick in new home purchases. According to MBA stats, mortgage applications for new homes jumped in July by about 5% over last year. Although, Applications decreased by 12% from the prior month. Overall applications for new construction are on the rise as fewer existing homes are for…
Freddie announced that they have received approval to move forward with their plans to waive a lender’s requirement to obtain and submit a full residential appraisal report on a purchase loan transaction. This is one step further than Freddie and Fannie had gone when they waived appraisals on certain refinance loans. Freddie says that they will provide these waivers on…
Did you hear the one about the kid who was so bad his parents gave him a big pile of horse manure for Christmas? When he came down on Christmas morning he was so excited. He exclaimed with all this horse sh-t, there must be a pony in here somewhere! The eternal optimist; talk about seeing the glass half full.…
