The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stated on Tuesday that it will be lenient when enforcing changes made in the 2020 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Final Rule on the closed-end loan reporting threshold. On September 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court
HW Media acquires Altos Research to expand access to real-time housing data
HW Media, publisher of HousingWire, RealTrends and Reverse Mortgage Daily, announced today that it has closed on the strategic acquisition of Altos Research, the premier resource for real-time real estate data, providing weekly market statistics, analysis and reporting for 99%
Lower mortgage rates are stabilizing the housing market
Since the weaker CPI data was released in November, bond yields and mortgage rates have been heading lower. The question then was: What would lower mortgage rates do to this data? Now, with five weeks of data in front of
Doma cuts workforce by 40% as part of its ‘reduction plan’
As the housing market continues to slow, Doma is the latest industry firm to undergo layoffs. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from December 2 and posted on December 6, the title insurer announced that it was eliminating 515
After margin call, EPM stopped paying Jesse Iwuji Motorsports sponsorship: lawsuit
Stock car racing team Jesse Iwuji Motorsports (JIM) this week filed a lawsuit against Atlanta-based mortgage lender Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) for allegedly failing to make more than $4 million in sponsorship payments after the company received a margin call
Broker group calls on FHFA to spike upcoming cash-out refi fee
The chorus of mortgage brokers who are calling on the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to remove a targeted cash-out refinance fee is growing louder. The National Association of Mortgage Brokers wants the housing regulator to consider removing the loan
Fannie Mae changes underwriting to help ‘credit invisible’ borrowers
Fannie Mae announced on Tuesday that it will make changes to its automated underwriting system in order to expand mortgage loan eligibility and simplify the loan process for underserved borrowers without credit scores. The enhancements are slated to roll out
LOs, mortgage rates and the long, cold winter ahead
Industry analysts say they expect loan volume to remain depressed for at least the next two quarters, meaning it will be a long winter for loan originators. The recent declines in mortgage rates brought a glimmer of hope that borrowers
Path Software launches new TPO capability
Calyx has developed a new third-party origination (TPO) functionality for Path Software called Path TPO, the company announced Tuesday. The new capability, which is cloud-based, can be accessed through and integrates with a client’s existing Path platform. In a release,
How LOs get into a real estate agent’s circle
To get into an agent’s circle, an LO has to see problems before they manifest they need to communicate whether the news is good, bad or ugly, agents said. Becca Summers does not typically include Wells Fargo on the lender
Here’s why new home sales are up along with prices
Today new home sales beat estimates, and new home median sales prices hit an all-time high. What is going on here? My job is always to be the detective, not the troll so let’s take a look at today’s data,
Buydowns become key for buyers to beat the market
It’s a terrible time for homebuyers. Mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed-rate loan are hovering around 7% levels and still-high home prices are slashing purchasing power. What helped Erica Davis, a loan originator at Guild Mortgage, in the current high-rate
New home sales continued to yo-yo in October
Homebuilders must be feeling some whiplash, as new single-family home sales continued to yo-yo in October. After rebounding in August from a drop in July only to fall again in September, new home sales were back up in October, according
Nonbank lender job cuts could shorten the market downturn
The current market downturn for mortgage lenders may be shorter than the previous cycles, mainly due to the recent rounds of workforce layoffs imposed by nonbanks. “While it is true that many nonbanks entered this downturn with a large war
Mortgage rates dropped again, so why are some borrowers on the sidelines?
Recent declines in mortgage rates, which are due to a slowdown in inflation growth, have been enough to convince some borrowers to apply for new home loans, according to recent data on mortgage applications. However, there are still forces pushing
How to communicate rate changes to borrowers
Mortgage rates are changing every day – and those changes can have big effects on borrowers. Over the last year, it seems that most of those changes have taken an upward trajectory, but there are times that monitoring mortgage rates
Demand for mortgages is on the rise as rates fall
With mortgage rates down nearly 50 basis points from the recent peak about a month ago, borrower demand picked up again this week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose
Prepayment activity drops to another record low as mortgage rates top 7%
Prepayment activity fell to another record low in October amid mortgage rates topping 7% and refis drying up. Black Knight expects that the steep declines in rate lock volume and seasonality factors point to further declines in prepayment activity. Prepayment
Marcia Fudge will be the first sitting HUD secretary to visit Japan
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge will be the first sitting HUD secretary to visit Japan when she arrives in Tokyo next week. According to an announcement, Tokyo’s Governor Yuriko Koike will hold a joint
Inside Movement Mortgage’s acquisition plans
Movement Mortgage CEO Casey Crawford and President Mike Brennan. Movement Mortgage’s deal to acquire top indie retail lender Mortgage Network marks a shift in the South Carolina-based company’s strategy. “Over the years, we’ve been more focused on organic growth, one
Days on market grow despite low inventory for existing homes
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today on two trends in existing home sales that we have seen for many months now: sales are declining while total inventory data has fallen directly for the three straight months. On a
Black Knight to sell TitlePoint back to Fidelity for $225M
Black Knight agreed to sell its TitlePoint business unit to former parent company Fidelity National Financial for $225 million in cash. A sale of TitlePoint is expected ahead of Black Knight’s planned blockbuster acquisition by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. TitlePoint enables
Proptech company Rhino acquires Desposify to transform deposit platform
Proptech firm Rhino will be buying the technology and assets of Deposify, a cash security deposit management technology platform, to launch an end-to-end deposit management and compliance platform. The platform, which is planned to launch after the transaction closes this
Housing industry continues to shed employees in economic downturn
Don’t be fooled by last week’s mortgage rate collapse. A combination of elevated mortgage rates, sluggish home sales and inflation continue to plague the housing market workforce, with numerous mortgage lenders and real estate startups shedding employees. “The U.S. housing