According to the November 2015 Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index, the MiMi (don’t you just love these acronyms?), housing markets across this nation are doing quite well (MiMi). This report indicates that most markets are improving thanks to better employment and current mortgage payment trends. In November, the MiMi index increased to 82.5. This is about 39% higher than the…
Category: Mortgage Industry Trends
“To Cut or Not to Cut”; That is the Question
The debate rages on among the mortgage lending professionals and their respective trade groups. Should FHA again reduce their required mortgage insurance premiums? If so, should they reduce the upfront premium, the annual renewals, or maybe both? (FHA Cut). Proponents of the additional rate cuts say that the prior actions to reduce the annual premiums helped make FHA loans much…
Housing Market’s Moon is Rising
Maybe there is a little “happy” in this New Year. The latest housing market indicators all seem to be pointing in the right direction. Although all the planets are not quite fully aligned, the outlook for housing is more positive than negative (Housing Market). The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose almost 15% from November…
First Time Buyers Getting Off the Fence
Was it the result of the recent rate hike, the reintroduction of the low LTV home loans by the GSEs, or maybe the FHA rate cut? Whatever it was, it appears many first time homebuyers are dipping their proverbial feet into homeownership waters. According to recent reports, FHA-insured lending dramatically increased over the past year. In many cases, these FHA…
Will Consumer Direct Eliminate the LO?
LOQuicken Loans says, “Take off with its new Rocket Mortgage”, an easy online mortgage loan application and approval. Will this replace the traditional loan originator? Let’s examine that possibility. Most say the consumer of today and tomorrow wants ease of communication and process through online applications. I believe most of us agree. Does that mean they will make their mortgage…
LOs: Survival of the Fittest
With more and more emphasis being put on lenders for quality and compliance, more and more responsibility falls to the loan originator to meet these demands. Larger lenders can provide more support and technology to assist their LOs, but smaller lenders struggle with the increased costs of compliance. As a result, will the small independent mortgage broker become a thing…