Mortgage rates jumped to 3.69% from 3.55% this week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.69%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.73%. “The normalization of the economy continues as mortgage rates jumped to the highest level since the emergence of the pandemic,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Rate increases are expected to continue due to a strong labor market and high inflation, which likely will have an adverse impact on homebuyer demand.” The economy is slowly recovering. The Fed has said the labor market has recovered enough to implement rate hikes, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell saying “labor market conditions have…
In January, second-home demand was up 87% from before the pandemic, the highest levels in a year and almost up to September 2020’s record 90% gain, Redfin reported. Second-home demand outpaced primary residence demand, which was up 42% from pre-pandemic levels. “Demand for second homes was strong in January as buyers tried to lock in relatively low mortgage payments,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “Mortgage rates surpassed 3.5% in January for the first time since March 2020, encouraging buyers who were on the fence about purchasing a vacation home to commit before rates increase further. While I expect demand for second homes to remain higher than it was before the pandemic, mostly because of remote work, it may…
Mortgage loan application volume fell 8.1% last week, down after jumping 12% the week prior, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, dropped 8.1%. The adjusted purchase index fell 10%, while the unadjusted purchase index fell 3% and was 12% lower YOY. The refinance index fell 7% and was down 52% YOY. Refinances made up 56.2% of total applications. “Purchase activity slowed after the previous week’s gain. Both conventional and FHA purchase applications saw proportional declines, resulting in purchase activity overall dropping 10 percent,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “The average loan size again hit another record high at $446,000.…
Home price appreciation and stock shortages are likely to continue through the first few months of 2022, as December saw price growth pick back up heading into the new year, a Realtor.com report shows. Though seller sentiment is positive, new listings are shrinking, squeezing the already competitive market. The number of homes actively for sale in January dropped 28.4% year-over-year (YOY), or 163,000 homes. Newly listed homes fell by 9.1% YOY and were 16.8% lower from typical 2017-2020 levels. The January national median listing price for active listings was $375,000, a 10.3% increase YOY and up 25% from January 2020. The median listing price for a typical single-family home increased 18.6% YOY. The report notes that though high home prices…
Shawn Nevin, CEO of California-based America’s MoneyLine (AML), is the target of a $2.8 million lawsuit from lending giant United Wholesale Mortgage, and he has one word to describe it: “Anti-American.” At issue is UWM’s controversial “All In” policy, implemented by CEO Mat Ishbia last year. “If you work and send loans and send business to Fairway Independent or Rocket Mortgage … you can’t work with UWM anymore, effective immediately,” Ishbia said in a Facebook Live message last March. His policy sparked a lawsuit from mortgage brokers that is still working its way through the legal system. UWM claims in its lawsuit that AML has sent 560 loans to Fairway and Rocket, in violation of the “All In” agreement. Nevin responded…
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) fell 2.4 points to 71.8 in January, its lowest level since May 2020, the GSE reported. The full index is down 5.9 points year-over-year. Affordability concerns drove sentiment down, with four of the index’s six components falling month-over-month. Only 25% of respondents said they believed it’s a good time to buy a home, an all-time low for the survey, while 69% said it’s a good time to sell. “Consumer sentiment toward housing softened further in January – the HPSI fell 2.4 points to 71.8 – as affordability and supply constraints continue to limit home purchase opportunities, particularly among younger households,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. Younger consumers…
Homeowners gained $2.6 trillion in tappable equity in 2021, up by 35% year-over-year for an aggregate total of almost $10 trillion, Black Knight’s December 2021 Mortgage Monitor reported. In just Q4 2021 alone, tappable equity rose by nearly half a billion dollars, resulting in the lowest total market leverage on record. The $2.6 trillion gain was the largest annual increase ever, more than double 2020’s record high of $1.1 trillion. The average homeowner has gained $48,000, for a total of $185,000 in available equity. “Home price appreciation over the course of 2021 was unlike anything that’s come before, and the incredible growth we’ve seen in homeowner equity is testament to that fact,” said Black Knight Data & Analytics President Ben…
In a public statement on LinkedIn, Jason Vondrak of Prospect Home Finance announced he has laid off 50 employees from his California-based company, and he laid the blame at the feet of United Wholesale Mortgage and its CEO, Mat Ishbia. “This was one of the hardest decisions of my life, and my heart goes out to all of our team members and their families that this affected,” Vondrak wrote. At issue is UWM’s decision last year to force brokers to sign an agreement that they will not work with Rocket Mortgage or Fairway Independent Mortgage – or else be banned from working with UWM, the largest wholesale mortgage lender. At the time, David Stevens, the former CEO of the Mortgage Bankers…
New data from the Census Bureau confirms that Hispanic households continue to make significant gains despite the challenges they face in the hot housing market. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) released a statement celebrating the finding of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey. The survey found that Hispanic homeownership rates rose to 48.4% in 2021, up by 657,000 households since 2019. Of the total, a net 1,025,000 were new households, which account for 27% of household formation growth in the last two years. Additionally, Hispanics added 1,025,000 net new households, accounting for 27% of household formation growth over the last two years. However, potential Hispanic homeowners face many challenges. Latino homeowners trailed the…
Guild Mortgage has selected Victoria Garcia DeLuca as its first vice president of marketplace diversity strategy, the company announced. In this newly created position, DeLuca will promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in lending. It is part of the company’s goal to become an industry leader for first-time homebuyers in diverse, often underserved markets. She will head the company’s multicultural lending growth initiative. “I was attracted to Guild because of its strong reputation, vision for growth, and amazing leadership,” DeLuca said. “Guild retains some 70% of its clients because of a culture dedicated to creating customers for life. As a Latina, I was impressed by Guild’s demonstrated commitment to equity internally and externally to promote increased diversity and inclusion throughout the…
