Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, November 8. It’s Election Day, and voter turnout is expected to be high. During climate talks, the UN warned that highly-visited glaciers in Yosemite and Yellowstone may disappear by 2050. Apple will make some of its iPhones in India for the first time, loosening its ties to China.
The Mortgage Note Reports
Freddie Exec Returns: Former Freddie Mac exec Ravi Shankar is returning to the company as senior VP and head of Single-Family Portfolio and Servicing.
HELOC Boom: Both Movement Mortgage and Homepoint introduced speed-focused home equity products as their popularity with homeowners continues to rise.
Have your political beliefs influenced where you have bought a home? We want to know. Share your stories by emailing us.
In other mortgage and housing news…
Financial Reports: Angel Oak reported a loss of more than $83 million in Q3, while Fannie Mae reported revenue of $7.22B, up 2% YOY.
Fastest-Growing: The “center of gravity” for U.S. economic activity is moving away from the East Coast as the fastest-growing metros are on the West Coast or in the South.
Layoff Central: CrossCountry is laying off another 100 lending employees, and New American let go of 240. NewRez and Franklin American Morgage also cut positions.
Worse To Come: Economist Ian Shepherdson says the industry’s resilience won’t last. “Layoffs are not yet rising—and the bar to letting people go probably is higher than in previous cycles, given how much trouble firms had rehiring people after the initial Covid shock—but that likely will change over the next couple months.”
Where They’re Going: 82.6% of movers stayed in the same state in 2022, though New York and Hawaii have the highest percentage of residents looking to leave.
New Takes Over: 29% of homes for sale in Q3 were new construction, the highest share of any Q3 on record, but now they sit empty as the market cools.
Mortgage Summit: LendingTree is holding a mortgage summit and innovation challenge tomorrow in Charlotte, NC, for mortgage professionals.