Mortgage Roundup (3/6/20) – Mortgage Rates, Flipping Profits & Hiring Brokers
The world’s leading health official told the international community that “now is the time to act” to combat the coronavirus. Facebook removes Trump campaign ad, citing census interference policy. Elizabeth Warren bows out of the race for the Democratic presidential candidate without endorsing anyone.
And in mortgage news …
The Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) announced that it is seeking to “reshape the agency’s workforce” by offering voluntary retirement and early separation to 20 percent of its employees. The move could affect as many as 1,200 employees and include field office closings.
The average 30-year mortgage hit an all-time low of 3.29 percent this week, according to data from Freddie Mac
Home flipping profits hit an 8-year low, but that’s not stopping many. Home-flipping activity is simultaneously at an 8-year high.
Single-family home construction dominates in Republican counties, while multifamily construction rules Democratic counties, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ fourth quarter Home Building Geography Index.
Mortgage brokers are on a hiring spree to keep up with demand. Executives at four of the nation’s 15 biggest mortgage lenders, already gearing up for a busy 2020, anticipate hiring thousands of employees this year to keep up with what they expect to be a flood of demand for purchase loans and refinancings.
One analyst’s look at the factors at play in ending Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs conservatorship.
Mortgage lenders are more apt to deny Gen X applicants because of their low credit scores and high debt-to-income ratios, according to a new report released by the National Association of Realtors.
Millennials are acting more like retirees in homebuying behaviors. That’s just one of the surprising insights that emerge in the 2020 home buyer, seller generational trends report.