Mortgage applications rallied last week as a slowing jobs market and positive indications from the Central Bank led to rates plummeting.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows that the adjusted Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — rose by 2.6%, reversing last week’s 2.3% dip.
Adjusted purchase applications increased by 2%, while the unadjusted index was up 2% and 17% lower YOY.
Rates declined for the first time since March, falling a full 11 bps to 7.18%.
FHA loans drove the upward push, jumping 5%, as their rates plummeted to 6.92%. It’s been weeks since these rates were last below 7%.
“First-time homebuyers account for roughly half of purchase loans, and the government lending…
By JARED WHITLEY
Nearly a decade ago, former Michigan State basketball player — and future United Wholesale Mortgage CEO — Mat Ishbia wrote an op-ed for Inc. Magazine, explaining how his business success was an extension of his strategy on the court.
Ishbia wrote that his approach is “creating teamwork.”
“Be a thumb pointer, not a finger pointer. When adversity strikes, pointing your finger at someone else doesn’t solve anything. Instead, be accountable; point your thumb at yourself and get better,” he wrote a decade ago.
But today, critics say, the embattled Ishbia is using lawsuits and market leverage to get his way. Instead of leadership and teamwork, Ishbia’s tactic is a top-down, “my way or the highway” approach to…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY
This Mother’s Day, mother-daughter lending teams across the country will be celebrating their teamwork, business success, and love for each other. We spoke with two mother-daughter lending teams who said their unique platform gives them an advantage in a competitive market.
Senior Loan Originator Dawn Morgan started working with her daughter, Melena Miller, an associate loan originator, in 2018, and they joined forces as the mother-daughter team Melena Dawn Mortgage Group in Parkville, Missouri, on May 1, 2023. They just celebrated their one-year work anniversary.
“A mother-daughter lending team like ours brings a unique blend of experience and fresh perspective,” said Morgan. “With my two decades of expertise and Melena’s six-plus years of working directly with…
Rocket Companies began 2024 with strong momentum, according to CEO Varun Krishna.
The parent company of Rocket Mortgage reported a total net revenue of $1.4 billion and adjusted revenue of $1.2 billion.
GAAP net income was reported at $291 million, or $0.11 per GAAP diluted earnings per share. Adjusted net income was reported at $84 million, or $0.04 per adjusted diluted earnings per share.
The company delivered a first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $174 million, the highest adjusted EBITDA in two years, according to company leaders.
“As an organization, we are driven to execute and win and our determination is absolute. We’re playing both the short and the long game, gaining momentum and achieving success while strategically planning and executing for…
By PATRICK LAVERY
Predicted by both the experts and projection tools alike, the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday decided to maintain its target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, the sixth consecutive meeting at which the key rate has gone unchanged following a year and a half’s worth of increases.
In prepared remarks, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell echoed previous statements over the past eight months in which he indicated that inflation continues to move too slowly, at least for the Fed’s liking, toward its ultimate goal of 2% to warrant any shift – although according to the data Powell provided, that may be more within reach than previously thought.
Total Personal Consumption Expenditures prices…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY
As the Biden administration’s war on “junk fees” continues, mortgage industry leaders are saying closing costs are not the source of home affordability challenges.
In March, leaders at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asked for input in a blog post aimed at challenging these costs.
“Families who manage to save up for a down payment and get approved for a mortgage often get an unwelcome surprise: closing costs that all too often are full of junk fees,” the post by Julie Margetta Morgan said.
Closing costs are paid on the day a buyer finalizes the purchase of their home. They include title insurance, credit report costs, appraisal fees, origination fees, and more.
According to the CFPB,…
By PATRICK LAVERY
After a swift acceleration of more than five percentage points in about a year and a half, starting in early 2022, could the Federal Reserve Board keep its policy interest rate in a holding pattern for close to a year?
That appears likely, as with no change since last summer, most experts feel the Fed is poised to keep the key rate steady – at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% – when the Federal Open Market Committee emerges from its next two-day summit on Wednesday.
CME Group’s FedWatch tool has been a valuable resource for Fed meeting predictions in recent months, and once again, its degree of confidence that the Fed will stand pat this week…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Hunterbrook Media is taking a second swing at United Wholesale Mortgage, claiming that an executive there helped a shell company establish Philadelphia-based UMortgage.
On April 2, Hunterbrook made waves when they published a report accusing UWM in Pontiac, Michigan, of widespread fraud. They estimated that homebuyers paid “between hundreds of millions and billions more in closing costs” because independent mortgage brokers working with UWM sent more than 99% of their business to the lender.
UWM’s CEO Mat Ishbia blew off the report at the time, pinning blame for it on his competitor Rocket Mortgage and its founder and chairman, Dan Gilbert. Rocket Mortgage denied having any involvement with the report.
The following week, UWM leaders went after…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The co-founder of a company that provides technology-enabled mortgage services and fintech innovation for the financial industry says artificial intelligence will be an essential tool moving forward.
Souren Sarkar, who is the president at Nexval Group in Miami, started his career in the technology space at Bayview Financial in 1996. After rising through the ranks to become the company’s chief technology officer, he pivoted and started companies that focused on mortgage outsourcing with technology, as well as labor outsourcing to India, where he was born.
Today, Nexval has several large operations in India and Sarkar says people who work in middle management there all have over 15 years of experience in U.S. mortgage banking.
Sarkar said the…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY
The Dutch offer home mortgages with interest rates that go down automatically as the loan gets paid off. The premise is that as the loan amount reduces and the property’s value increases, the risk associated with the loan decreases.
Dutch-style mortgages recently arrived in the United Kingdom and have been making headlines here in the United States as people ask whether these types of mortgages could be a solution to the housing market’s woes.
Nathan Hartseil, branch manager for Main Street Home Loans in Hingham, Mass., doesn’t think so due to the fact our mortgages are based on a secondary market.
“Most of our loans are transferred or sold to a secondary market, and that’s what…
