By KIMBERLEY HAAS The CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage has come under fire after posting online that he is “disappointed” with Rocket Mortgage’s decision to offer buyouts to members of its workforce. Mat Ishbia posted on LinkedIn last week that this should not be necessary for a company that made over $5 billion in profits last year. “These 2,000+ people will struggle to find new jobs, and I think it’s disgusting that they’re thinking short term and are solely focused on cutting a few million per month in costs… this is the wrong thing to do to people,” Ishbia said. Ishbia went on to write that they have not had a single layoff in 35 years at UWM. The post…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Near one of the hottest housing markets in the country, a local builder says a shortage of electrical transformers is slowing down progress on 166 condo units. Joshua Manning, General Manager at Lewis Builders Development in Atkinson, NH, says they are trying to complete a new construction project in Epping, NH, where the median listing home price is $581,500, according to Realtor.com. When Manning ordered the 20 electrical transformers he needs last year, there was no indication there would be an issue. Now he wonders when the order will be completely filled. “It’s never taken this long to get electrical transformers for new houses,” Manning said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note. Manning said he…
By CHUCK GREEN Trouble could be percolating in the U.S. housing market. In a blog post last month, researchers and economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas wrote of indications that real-time market monitoring is picking up signs of a “brewing U.S. housing bubble.” They added: “Our evidence points to abnormal U.S. housing market behavior for the first time since the boom of the early 2000s. Certain economic factors, especially including the price to rent ratio, and the price-to-income ratio—which show signs that 2021 house prices appear increasingly out of step with fundamentals, raise red flags.” Researchers and economists also cited growing concern that U.S. house prices are again becoming “unhinged from fundamentals.” Moe Zulfiqar, Editor of Lombardi Letter,…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Leaders at Rocket Mortgage are working to end the digital divide in Detroit where it is estimated that one-quarter of residents do not have internet access. That number is down from nearly 40% in 2016, according to Dana Afana at Detroit Free Press, but those working on the issue say there is still a long way to go especially considering how important the internet is post-2020. The Changing the Course initiative was established in that year to end the digital divide in Detroit, where Rocket Mortgage is located. Money raised from The Rocket Mortgage Classic, which made history in 2019 as the first PGA TOUR ever held in the city, supports the campaign. The tour raised $1.35…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Leaders at a California-based lender that generated $36.8 billion in origination volume last year say they are finding success because they focus on creating customers for life. Guild Mortgage, located in San Diego, has been originating and servicing residential loans since 1960. Their origination volume in 2021 was up about 5% from $35.2 billion in 2020. The company’s in-house servicing portfolio grew 18% year-over-year to $70.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, with Guild retaining servicing rights for 80% of total loans sold. Last month, they earned their fifth consecutive Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards performer recognition from Fannie Mae. According to a press release, the STAR Performer recognition is reserved for top-performing servicers in one or…
By SCOTT KIMBLER With inflation at the highest rate in four decades, every facet of the economy is affected and that has put many people in the position of having to rethink their retirement plans. Professor Tom Smith of Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business says that people who are soon to retire and those just starting to plan for retirement can find themselves in quite a spot. “When you have these types of fluctuations, people have to reevaluate what they think retirement can purchase,” Smith said. “You’re going to be on a fixed income when you retire. You’ll either be on Social Security, drawing a pension, or whatever else. The higher the inflation is, the less buying power your…
By CHUCK GREEN An apparently not so uncommon sight these days in the mortgage industry: empty desks. Not that their occupants are taking five for a foam latte. Instead, they might well have either been steeped in the pink slip blues or were compelled to submit their resignation. Over the past three months in the industry, there have been more than 3,500 job cuts, according to globalsg.com. In February, Bloomberg reported U.S. home mortgage lenders might have no other choice during the coming months that to initiate layoffs. Similarly, earlier this month, wolfstreet.com reported that not only are layoffs among mortgage lenders taking place, but they will also continue. “Layoffs and forced resignations are certainly imminent in the mortgage banking…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Rocket Pro TPO is promising to clear eligible loans in no more than 15 business days and leaders there say they are able to guarantee these closing times because of the company’s investment in technology. Kevin Randolph, Senior Vice President of Operations at Rocket Pro TPO, said they have spent billions of dollars to accelerate their creation of propriety technology. They have rolled out new programs such as PathFinder, a proprietary mortgage guideline search engine. Rocket Connect provides brokers with communication with underwriters and operational leaders directly in the broker portal. Rocket Pro TPO’s new pricing calculator can deliver brokers a pricing estimate quickly and easily, according to the company. Randolph said in an interview with The…
By CHUCK GREEN Office vacancy rates are being monitored closely as the commercial space industry continues to grapple with COVID’s effects on the workplace. In Los Angeles, office activity stagnated in the first quarter of 2022. One-fifth of total inventory remained vacant and rents remained unchanged, according to Greg Cornfield at Commercial Observer. Other major metro areas, including New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Chicago, also continue to experience double-digit vacancy rates. Stemming from remote work due to the variant, San Francisco and DC reportedly kicked off the year with vacancies approaching 20%. In major U.S. markets vacancies of around 60% were recently shown by Kastle Systems, which measures occupancy by looking at foot traffic into offices.…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS New data shows that 79% of Americans would rather renovate their current home than move to a different one and with $420 billion spent on remodeling projects in 2020 those in the mortgage, real estate, and building industries are taking notice. Discover Home Loans commissioned a national survey of 1,531 homeowners. The independent survey research firm Dynata fielded the first of the online surveys in January and found that nearly four in five people would rather make improvements on their homes than move in the current housing market. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/-3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. The top five reasons given for why homeowners would rather renovate are:…
