housing wire

With housing affordability at an all-time low and accelerating consumer prices disproportionately affecting lower- and middle-income families, the Mortgage Bankers Association this week called on the White House and the Federal Housing Administration to reduce annual mortgage insurance premiums. In

Home-equity lending is on a roll this year, with the combined volume of home-equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and traditional closed-end home equity loans up 47% from January to May of 2022, compared with the same period last year. Nearly

California-based Point Mortgage Corporation has decided to shut down its wholesale business GoPointDirect and lay off employees to focus on retail lending, a top executive confirmed to HousingWire.  “We have temporarily taken it down,” Johnny Margarini, president and CEO, said during an interview. “When

Fitch Group, the parent of bond-rating firm Fitch Ratings, is acquiring a majority ownership stake in capital-markets fintech company dv01 — which provides data and analytics services to the structured-finance market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close

Consumer prices in August rose slightly from July, all but ensuring the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates aggressively at its upcoming September meeting to tamp down inflation. Despite decreases in the indexes for airline fares, communication, and used cars

Lending standards tightened in August amid a worsening economic outlook and signs of cooling in home-price growth. The mortgage credit availability index (MCAI) fell marginally by 0.5% to 108.3 in August from the previous month, according to the Mortgage Bankers

With all the talk about a hot housing market and changes on the horizon thanks to increasing mortgage rates, it can be hard to forget that these market-wide changes have a real effect on real people, especially those dealing with

KBRA Analytics, an affiliate of Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), has acquired digital-information service Direct Lending Deals, which offers investors and loan originators coverage of deal data, news and analysis in the direct-lending sector. The acquisition will allow KBRA Analytics to offer its

Take a deep dive into these five local housing markets to better understand the trends across the nation. Each city has a unique market and enticing listings to attract new residents. Siesta Key, Florida Remote work flexibility opened up the

Mortgage POS BeSmartee’s Mortgage Point-of-Sale (POS)  platform is a configurable, white labeled solution that streamlines the origination process, including application, credit, PPE, AUS disclosures and appraisal collection and fulfillment. Product Fast Facts #1 Go from application to appraisal in 15

With the recent downturn in volume of new originations, many lenders are using this time to take inventory of the available tools geared toward risk mitigation and workflow optimization. There is also a renewed interest in the future state of

What’s unique about President Biden’s housing administration compared to past administrations? From regulations and enforcement to innovation in policies and technology, there’s a lot to talk through when it comes to addressing this question, which is why we’re stoked for

Add mortgage lender Mountain West Financial to the list of victims of the price war in the wholesale channel.     The Redlands, California-based company informed its broker network last week that it has “made the difficult decision to take a step back

Mortgage tech firms FormFree and Docutech are teaming up to make verification of assets (VOA) and verification of income and employment (VOI/E) available in the initial disclosure phase of the mortgage process.  FormFree’s AccountChek, a service that allows lenders to

The Prestwick Mortgage Group, an Alexandria, Virginia-based advisory and brokerage firm, has unveiled a mortgage-servicing rights (MSR) offering for a $598 million package of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Prestwick’s offering comes on the heels of a separate bulk offering announced recently by New

There’s only one month left until HW Annual kicks off on Oct. 3rd. As the conference quickly approaches, so does the deadline to lock in the exclusive room rate for the Fairmont Princess Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Take advantage of

Digital mortgage lender Better.com and blank-check firm Aurora Acquisition Corp. extended the deadline to conclude their merger agreement, but the companies have already started to discuss options in case the deal fails.  In May 2021, Novator Capital-sponsored special purpose acquisition company Aurora announced plans to

Rocket Companies, the parent company of Rocket Mortgage, extended the second round of voluntary career transition offers to employees amid the company’s forecast of much lower origination volume in the third quarter.  “We recognize career growth options in certain areas

A San Francisco real estate investor with political ties was found guilty of bank fraud and making false statements to Quicken Loans as part of a larger federal investigation targeting public corruption in the city.  A federal jury convicted Victor

Inflation slowed more than expected in July, the result of a dip in gas and energy prices. But soaring housing costs continue to weigh heavily on family budgets. Rents and home purchase prices are up – 17% and 20% respectively – from

What a crazy day for my economic model! On the same day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that we’ve recovered all the jobs lost to COVID-19 and I am raising my sixth recession red flag. When I wrote

Guild Mortgage’s second-quarter earnings suggest that a high share of purchase loans won’t necessarily be enough to protect lenders from the most challenging and volatile mortgage market in years. They’ll have to cut costs and grab opportunities as they emerge. The

With tech solutions and automation dominating more and more of the mortgage experience, the appraisal process can feel a bit dated, often causing significant slowdowns. HousingWire recently spoke with Erin Reed, vice president of originations, valuations and operations at ServiceLink

Stakeholders on all sides of the issues sounded off on the proposed changes to the federal redlining statute in comments to the banking agencies marshaling the changes. Some of the nearly 360 comments came in late on Thursday, a day