The problem with the housing recovery – and the lingering foreclosure issue – is everyone wants to do something, but not everyone is in agreement. What does the mortgage market need to step bravely into the future and resolve existing housing issues going forward?
States have launched sweeping legislative reforms tied to housing, while federal housing policy is continuing to extend its reach far away from Washington D.C.
California may in fact become an example of what happens...
You may be focused more on originations than servicing, or vice versa, but in a market where lending is now picking up speed and servicing is starting to wind down, diversification may be the way to go.
The new CEO of MortgageDocs Christian Redmond believes in this concept of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
In his role for only two weeks, Redmond told HousingWire that while his company’s clients are mostly...
Ed DeMarco, current acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was surprisingly greeted by members of the Senate Banking Committee with warm remarks.
They even applauded DeMarco for his work since he is overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two very complex systems.
However, it wouldn’t be a showdown in the committee room unless a few sparks flew.
One of the biggest decisions DeMarco...
After months of house hunting — constant checking of MLS sites, evening neighborhood drive-bys and weekends filled with house touring — I believe I’ve found the secret sauce: personalizing your offer.
My husband and I have placed offers on two different homes over the past few months, one of which had 10 other offers. The Dallas-area markets are brutal for buyers right now. Not only were we feeling dejected, but we were beginning to feel...
Is the mortgage origination market reverting to the mean? By that, of course, I mean the traditional 60/40 or 70/30 relationship between purchases and refinances.
It sure sounded that way yesterday when the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reiterated its forecast for this year and next. According to MBA economist Mike Fratantoni, the most likely outcome for 2013 is an origination market with $835 billion in refinances and purchases growing to $597 billion.
If...
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, is a rumored candidate to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Sitting FHFA director Ed DeMarco has been at the center of housing debate for a few years now, with the Obama...
It's going to be an interesting spring.
Rising home prices and gradually increasing mortgage rates have 75% of Americans stating that it is smarter to buy now than to wait a year, according to a recent study by Trulia. Conversely, fewer than 1 in 3, 32% to be exact, Americans believe it would be better to sell now than to wait another year. ...
The dust is settling from the housing crisis and mortgage lenders are easing back into lending. And now the amount of loans falling into foreclosure is dwindling, turning the spotlight back to mortgage originations.
During the stormy financial crisis, banks that were not up to standard were filtered out of the market. Since then, other banks have decided to pull back or even out of the industry altogether.
In a conference call for Citigroup ...
In meetings with customers and prospects, I like to ask: What do you want from your LOS system?
These days, typical responses tend to be automated compliance, greater productivity, measurable ROI and maybe the ability to "turn on" new channels, like correspondent. But for some time, I've had this nagging suspicion that there’s one more wish-list item that they’d like to add, but are too polite to say. And that is: "I’d like my next LOS to be my last."
Understandable, really,...
Pre-purchase financial counseling is getting better all the time, at least that’s what the latest analysis by Freddie Mac shows.
In fact, pre-purchase counseling may reduce the likelihood of a first-time homebuyer becoming seriously delinquent by 29%.
By contrast, an earlier study of similar mortgages financed in the ‘90s estimated that pre-purchase counseling for first-time buyers reduced serious delinquencies by an average of 19%.
Furthermore, the new...
