Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

With Halloween now in the rearview mirror, we still have one more spook to survive in 2020 – and no, I’m not talking about the upcoming election. I’m talking about housing market crash headlines. The housing data has been wild this year. We’ve seen waterfall declines and parabolic rebounds. These dramatic peaks and valleys in the data have fed the demons of greed and fear that infest the minds our extreme housing bulls and the fierce housing market bears – leading to equally wild spe

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Boston Appraisal

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Have you jumped on the refinance bandwagon? If not, you may want to consider it. As of the end of October 2020, interest rates on a 30-year refinance mortgage were averaging around 3.2%. These are the lowest rates in the last 40 years! If you decide to take advantage of these all-time low rates, your lender will most likely order an appraisal. What happens if the new appraisal is less than original one?

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DW Slater Company

OCTOBER 31, 2020

Image by Peter H from Pixabay. Happy Halloween from the DW Slater Company! We do wish you a safe Halloween and end of October. This year has been unlike any other and that certainly includes the housing market. The markets in North Texas appeared to have paused when the pandemic began but the demand for home space combined with low inventory has put upward pressure on prices.

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McKissock

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Is your real estate website doing all it can to increase the number of visitors you have? There is a lot more to it than setting up the site, adding your bio, and throwing together some neighborhood pages. If you want your site to be a success with lots of visitors and tons of leads, you need to enhance your website regularly. Here are five things you can work on now to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and your real estate website traffic. 1.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released their Q3 earnings last week, reflecting a combined $6.7 billion in net income, up significantly from the previous quarter. This strong performance was not unexpected, but makes the upcoming 50 basis point adverse market refinance fee more puzzling. In their earnings Q3 2020 10-Q release , Fannie Mae states the following, “We are implementing a new adverse market refinance fee in light of the increased costs and risk we expect to incur due to the COVID-19 pande

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Boston Appraisal

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Have you jumped on the refinance bandwagon? If not, you may want to consider it. As of the end of October 2020, interest rates on a 30-year refinance mortgage were averaging around 3.2%. These are the lowest rates in the last 40 years! If you decide to take advantage of these all-time low rates, your lender will most likely order an appraisal. What happens if the new appraisal is less than original one?

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McKissock

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Technology is supposed to make everything easier, and yet it is often the source of so many problems. While you can’t do your job without relying on real estate technology to some degree, you do have to be extra careful when you use it. Convenience often comes with a price, as these examples will attest. Here are six ways technology can hurt—or even ruin—your real estate business. 1.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

With mortgage rates continuing to hover near record lows, mortgage applications jumped 3.8% last week according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The refinance wave showed no signs of stopping as refinance activity gained 6% from the previous week – up 88% higher than the same week last year. According to Joel Kan , MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, borrowers made a grab for both conventional and government refi’s.

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REX Real Estate

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

With school back in session and Daylight Savings Time ending, the fall season is…

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Despite home prices rising 6.7% year over year in September, CoreLogic’s Home Price Index Forecast (HPI) estimates home prices will moderate next year, increasing 0.2% nationally by September 2021 as higher prices erode affordability. Home purchase demand managed to maintain pace through the summer, and now through the fall, as record low mortgage rates continued to encourage new borrowers to enter the market.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

New rate lock data suggests 2020 will end with over $4 trillion worth of originations, easily a record. The data, from Black Knight’s “Mortgage Monitor” report , shows that rate lock activity in the first half of October was up 4% from September, with purchase locks up 6% and refinance locks up 3%. Add the record-low interest rates to the recipe and quarterly volume is expected to reach record levels across both purchase and refi.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Despite what many believe, Gen Z and Millennials do want to become homeowners and they’re excited by the prospect. However, they face different obstacles than their parents and grandparents did. These challenges include lack of mortgage education, lack of suitable housing supply, and an unprecedented amount of debt that limits buying power and makes them fearful of taking on more.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic redefined “home” for many Americans and underscored the bedrock necessity of affordable housing for seniors, families and essential workers. As the pandemic shifts from crisis to chronic, investors, community leaders and housing advocates say they intend to make the most of the chance to permanently elevate the case for affordable housing even as economic metrics are starting to shift.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

This year, remote online notarizations have taken a major step forward as more borrowers than ever are using eClosing platforms. And the consensus is in: borrowers like RON. A new study conducted by ClosingCorp shows borrowers who completed purchase and refinance transaction during COVID-19 were very satisfied with their experience, and even hope eClosings will continue in the future.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

In its annual Mortgage Fraud Report, CoreLogic found that the risk of mortgage fraud for the 12 months ending June 2020 decreased 26.3% year-over-year nationally. Applications for investment properties showed the highest risk, while VA-based programs showed the lowest. The recently released report is the industry standard for nationwide fraud monitoring and analysis and draws on its proprietary Mortgage Fraud Consortium Database, which includes over 100 million loan files, The large drop in frau

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

A new annual report from CoreLogic shows multi-closing fraud risk held steady in 2020 after having decreased the past several years. “Multi-lien fraud is an extremely profitable scam that takes advantage of the lag between closing and records to solicit multiple loans on a single property,” the CoreLogic report stated. “According to the CoreLogic Multi-Close Alert Program (MCAP), 2020 is projected to have a similar level of findings as was seen in 2019.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Squirrels are always a little skittish, but as winter approaches, they really ramp it up. Why? Squirrels’ food sources — seeds, nuts, fruits, fungi — become extremely scarce in the winter, and so they have to act fast to make sure they have enough nourishment for those challenging months. There’s a cliche that squirrels tend to forget where they bury their nuts, but in reality, many species of squirrel have highly sophisticated mnemonic systems for remembering where they stored their bounties.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

As a premier provider of innovative, high-performance software, data and analytics for mortgage and home equity lending and servicing, Black Knight is transforming the housing finance industry. With highly advanced software solutions for originations, servicing and secondary marketing, Black Knight helps its clients drive financial growth, improve customer retention, increase operational efficiency and reduce risk.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

The mortgage industry is no stranger to disruption since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lenders have seen it all this year: high volumes, volatility, market uncertainty… the list goes on and on. Amid evolving market conditions, today’s mortgage lenders continue to seek new and innovative ways to leverage advanced automation—the great accelerator.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Cannae Holdings and Senator Investment Group announced they are dropping their takeover bid after CoreLogic confirmed last week it is exploring multiple offers to sell at or above $80 per share. However, the increased offers did not deter the investors from continuing their fight to replace CoreLogic’s board of directors with their own nominees. “As we have always stated, our goal is to see CoreLogic carry out a legitimate sales process, whether that results in a sale to us or a sale to a higher

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

The pandemic-fueled exodus continues as apartment dwellers in big cities flee to the suburbs and beyond. The suburbs and rural areas of the Northeast are attracting more homebuyers, as Redfin reports that three out of the 10 metro areas with the largest net inflow increases are located in that area. Buffalo, New York, ranks third highest in metro areas with the biggest net inflow.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

The complexities of serving borrowers under the CARES Act require lenders, servicers and investors to partner with a mortgage services provider who has the expertise and national network to provide high-touch support to its clients. With a proven track record of best-in-class asset management experience, VRM Mortgage Services is uniquely qualified to address the challenges of this COVID era, including a potential influx of REO assets once eviction and foreclosure moratoriums are lifted.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Just weeks away from its anticipated $16.1 billion IPO , United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) closed on the sale of $800 million in senior notes. The bond sale, which closed this week, gave the Detroit-based mortgage giant $791 million in proceeds. The notes are due in 2025 and sold at a 5.5% coupon. The liquidity is on top of a commitment in the form of a $500 million private placement and $425 million in cash held by the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) UWM is merging with, Gores Holdings

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

The National Flood Insurance Program’s authority to issue policies was recently extended for a full year, until September 30, 2021. This is the 16th short-term extension of the NFIP since Congress reauthorized the program in 2012 and extended it in 2017, and the one-year extension is the longest of those extensions. The NFIP provides stability for the housing market.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

The U.S. unemployment rate in October hit a new pandemic low of 6.9%, down a full percentage point from September’s 7.9%, the Labor Department said on Friday. With 1.5 million people making up that one percentage drop, the department estimates that now 11.1 million Americans are still unemployed, according to the Household Survey Data. Though September began showing signs of a decline in unemployment, after only falling a half a percentage point from August , October’s decline matched that previ

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Homeowners who were placed into proactive forbearance plans by Wells Fargo received positive news this week. Law360 reports that on Nov. 2, in response to a class action lawsuit filed in Virginia, Wells Fargo agreed not to place homeowners into a COVID-19 forbearance plan or extend an existing plan unless a customer requests forbearance. The lawsuit claimed the bank placed customers into these plans without notice, a direct violation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. .

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Redfin saw a revenue decrease of 1% year over year, to $237 million in the third quarter, above the company’s projected revenue of between $214 million and $225 million. In addition, its gross profit was $93 million, an increase of 74% year over year. It’s net income was $34.2 million, compared to a net income of $6.8 million in Q3 of 2019.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Online real estate marketing platform Hubzu has launched a new mobile app, available for residential real estate buyers. The app offers potential buyers tools to find, research and bid on homes via a competitive auction format. Hubzu is an end-to-end asset management platform for residential foreclosure, short sale, REO, deed in lieu, CWCOT and retail property auctions.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Mortgage originations have a had a bang-up year, with recent data even estimating that they will $4 trillion by the end of 2020. But with a high volume of transactions comes escalated risk for fraud – an issue fintech and risk management company FundingShield has been trying to counterbalance for the mortgage space. In 2019, the Consumer Sentinel Network , maintained by the Federal Trade Commission , revealed consumers reported losing $1.9 billion related to fraud complaints.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Non-QM lending took a brief pause earlier this year due to the pandemic causing a flight to cash in the bond market, but the non-QM borrowers and investors haven’t disappeared. While 2020 has seen record volumes, low rates and profits, originators understand that’s not going to last forever. According to Tom Hutchens, EVP of Production at Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, this is a great opportunity for an originator to build their non-QM expertise and build that purchase market.

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McKissock

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Appraisers are often reluctant to take on an appraisal trainee. They fear that doing so will turn out to be a lot of time and energy spent for little reward. They tend to assume that the trainee, once she earns the Certified Appraiser designation , will set up shop as a competitor. On the other hand, the appraisal industry needs fresh blood. The existing population of licensed and certified appraisers is aging—and in some markets, shrinking.

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McKissock

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

We recently asked our real estate appraisal community, “Do you plan to take on a trainee appraiser in the next 5 years?” About half of survey respondents said no, while the other half said yes or maybe. To gain further insight into these answers, we asked the same appraisers to explain, “Why or why not?” Read their comments below.

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REX Real Estate

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

The air is crisp, the leaves are changing colors, and the holidays are right…

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Mattamy Homes , one of North America’s largest homebuilders, has reached an agreement to acquire the homebuilding operations of Dallas-based New Synergy Homes. The acquisition is expected to close on Monday. No financial terms have been disclosed. With this transaction, Mattamy Homes will own over 3,400 homesites in 26 future communities. “Dallas’s booming economy and strong job market presents a tremendous growth opportunity for Mattamy Homes,” Peter Gilgan, chairman and chief executive o

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