By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Mortgage originations are expected to decline in 2023 as market factors continue to present challenges for those in the industry.
Michael Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s chief economist and senior vice president of research and industry technology, said during a session at the National Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC, this week that after the whirlwind of 2020 and 2021, the residential slowdown which started in 2022 will continue through this year.
“This has been an extraordinarily tough couple of years for mortgage lenders. Origination volume dropped 50% from ’21 to ’22,” Fratantoni said. “We’re forecasting another 20% decline in 2023 to a level of about $1.8 trillion.”
Although the recent banking market uncertainty has not helped, Fratantoni…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Members of the Mortgage Bankers Association are gathered in Washington this week to advocate for legislative reforms that could benefit the industry and consumers.
The National Advocacy Conference started on Tuesday morning at the JW Marriott with a general session about the current political landscape. Robert Broeksmit, president and CEO of the MBA, told those in attendance that elected representatives want to know what is happening in their states and how they can better serve their constituents.
While highlighting victories for the industry, Broeksmit said he was delighted that Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Julia Gordon announced a reduction in mortgage insurance premiums at the MBA Servicing Solutions Conference & Expo in Orlando this past February.
It’s a…
Salt Lake City was a pandemic hot spot but as the housing market evens out across the nation, one senior loan officer who works in the metropolitan area says buyers are seeing some relief.
According to data from Redfin, home prices in Salt Lake City were down 8.5% in March compared to last year, selling for a median price of $540,000.
The city was ranked fifth on a recent Realtor.com list of the 10 U.S. cities where home sales were down the most, in part because fewer out-of-state buyers are relocating to the “Silicon Slopes.” In November 2021, there were 1,506 sales, compared to 708 in November of 2022.
Cory Ure works at SecurityNational Mortgage Company in Salt Lake City.…
As technology improves, the concept of valuation modernization is gaining traction and some industry leaders say in a few years in-person appraisals could be a novelty instead of the norm.
Last month, leaders at Fannie Mae announced an update to their selling guide which includes newly available valuation options. They said valuation modernization helps lenders, appraisers, and risk investors manage collateral risk more efficiently while also benefiting customers with greater appraisal accuracy, lower costs, and an increased speed of loan decisions.
Matt Stepanovich, vice president of national sales, hybrid valuations and quality control at SingleSource Property Solutions, recently sat down with Editor Kimberley Haas to talk about what he is seeing.
SingleSource, located in Canonsburg, Penn., is a nationwide service…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
A California apartment building owner who suggested a couple move into a bigger unit to accommodate their growing family is being charged with discrimination by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials.
Melinda Teruel is accused of making repeated efforts to convince the couple to move into a larger apartment in the city of Burlingame even though they told her they could not afford it. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against families with children under the age of 18.
“As HUD prepares to commemorate Fair Housing Month during April 2023, this charge of discrimination is a reminder that the fight for fair housing must continue,” Demetria McCain, HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing…
By CHUCK GREEN
As the traditional spring homebuying season begins, a lack of inventory, high interest rates, and economic uncertainty due to banking troubles have dominated the news. So what can people expect?
Rick Sharga, president and CEO of CJ Patrick Company in California, told The Mortgage Note that it’s “unlikely to be a banner period for home sales. Extremely low inventory of homes for sale coupled with poor affordability are likely to keep sales activity fairly weak, even though seasonal trends usually see sales and prices increase during the spring and summer months.”
Although the second quarter is typically the peak season for home sales, that has been disrupted in recent years, noted Sharga.
“This seasonal trend didn’t happen…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Officials in New York say leaders at a top provider of title insurance for the real estate and mortgage industries will terminate “no-poach” agreements, pay the state $3.5 million, and cooperate with ongoing investigations in the industry.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the news on Wednesday. The settlement with Fidelity National Financial, Inc. is one of at least five cases James has pursued against title insurance companies as she works to stop “no-poach” agreements in the state.
“New Yorkers deserve fair pay for their hard work and experience in their fields, and their career growth should never be threatened by a company’s desire to save money on wages. My office will continue standing up for…
Industry leaders are rallying around a federal bill that would permit the nationwide use of remote online notarization.
The Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act, H.R. 1509, establishes national standards for remote and electronic notarizations. The legislation requires the creation and retention of video and audio recordings, as well as the use of communication technologies such as video chats during remote notarizations. It passed the House on Feb. 27.
Leaders at the Mortgage Bankers Association support remote online notarization on the state and national level. They say the bill’s requirements are consistent with industry standards.
“The bill’s minimum standards for RON are consistent with both the MBA-ALTA model state RON bill and the Mortgage Industry Standards…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
A Florida mortgage broker challenging United Wholesale Mortgage’s ultimatum agreement wants to include recent disclosures and statements related to the company’s successes to help prove his antitrust claims.
Daniel Okavage of The Okavage Group in St. Augustine is pursuing a federal class-action suit on behalf of all mortgage brokers that work, or have worked, with UWM and sustained damages after the company’s CEO, Mat Ishbia, announced in March of 2021 they could no longer simultaneously do business with Rocket Pro TPO or Fairway Independent Mortgage.
Okavage’s attorney, Robert Goodman, says thousands of brokers were cut off from opportunities to refer customers to the mortgage lender of their choice, resulting in business losses.
Lawyers for UWM have moved…
By PATRICK LAVERY
“Let’s go to the mall!” wasn’t just a catchphrase popularized by alter-ego Robin Sparkles on the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.” In the 1980s and 1990s, shoppers flocked to malls to satisfy their needs for a variety of goods, and adolescents went there just to hang out, patronize the food court, and be social.
But sometime in the two decades between the turn of the millennium and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the megamall as an American institution gave way to the likes of Walmart, eBay, and Amazon. It’s gotten to the point where thumbing through slideshows of abandoned malls has become almost as perverse a pleasure as seeing what’s happened to former Olympic venues.…
