The company plans to increase investments in its proprietary products as well as marketing initiatives with expectations of originations growth next year.
Tag Archives: mortgage fraud news
Trump win likely to delay Basel III, imperil Biden bank regulation
Experts anticipate that Trump’s victory and expected shifts in regulatory leadership will delay finalizing Biden-era capital rules for large banks, with new officials likely favoring a less stringent Basel III framework and softer capital requirements.
Does The Fed Still Matter?
Does The Fed Still Matter?
Bonds sold off overnight as the reality of Trump’s victory became apparent. Traders more or less nailed the trading levels right out of the gate. This didn’t leave much room for volatility during domestic hours (10yr yields started the day around 4.45 and are ending around 4.43). Given the all-consuming focus on the election, it would be easy to overlook the fact that Thursday brings the next Fed announcement (it would normally be on a Wednesday, but some smart person pushed it back a day). Does that even matter in this environment? Frankly, probably not too much. At the very least, the market is 100% prepared for a 0.25% rate cut. The statement and Powell will both likely acknowledge improvements in economic data–especially the big shift in NFP–while at the same time reminding the market that the Fed is playing a long game and not to read too much into one month of data.
Econ Data / Events
S&P Services PMI
55.0 vs 55.3 f’cast, 55.2 prev
ISM Services
56.0 vs 53.8 f’cast, 54.9 prev
employment 54.0 vs 48.0
Prices 58.1 vs 58.0
Market Movement Recap
08:11 AM Sharply weaker following Trump victory. MBS down 5/8ths of a point. 10yr up 16bps at 4.44
01:06 PM Recovering a bit, both before and after 30yr auction. MBS down half a point and 10yr up 13.6bps at 4.418
02:27 PM Giving up some ground again. MBS down 17 ticks (.53) and 10yr up 16bps at 4.442
04:11 PM Leveling off into the last hour. MBS down 15 ticks (.47) and 10yr up 15bps at 4.434
Huge Post-Election Sell-Off, The Calmest Result Imaginable
Heading into the election, we knew the bond market was losing ground in concert with improving odds of a Trump victory and red sweep. After being surprised in 2016, markets were determined to bake in as much of the expected outcome as possible. The seemingly massive overnight sell-off in bonds means that markets have done exactly that. 10yr yields are only up 19bps, and while that may sound big, it’s very much on the low end of the spectrum of potential election reactions. If there’s a reason, it’s that the red sweep has yet to be decided due to a neck and neck forecast for control of the House.
Verification, AI, Servicing Tools; LO Hiring Risk Mitigation; The Election, Rates, and Regulation; Apps Plummet
I went to a Vikings game with a friend and decided I wanted a drink. I wanted the big soda pop, but when I saw the price, I decided… A Minnesota will do. Here in Minneapolis, one topic of conversation is the speed at which regulators seem to be acting, thinking things will change in January. Attorney Brian Levy wrote, “The CFPB (and the Justice Department) refuse to acknowledge that lender discrimination does not explain housing disparities and continue to pursue these modern-day redlining claims unabated. But, in my view, the Townstone settlement a few weeks ago is an unequivocal recognition by CFPB that its overzealous fair lending interpretations are unlikely to survive judicial challenge.[13] In fact, it’s possible we may mark this settlement as the beginning of the end of fair lending enforcement for the mortgage industry as we know it.” An industry vet recently reminded me that, “Berger v. United States, the 1935 U.S. Supreme Court case requiring that, while a prosecutor ‘may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.’” (Today’s podcast can be found here, and this week’s is Sponsored by Calque. Partner with Calque to offer better loan solutions. Scale your business with a partner that puts your brand first and empower your clients to buy before they sell. Hear an interview with Cornerstone First Mortgage’s Eric Rotner and Calque’s Chandra Srivastava on creative new products that are helping alleviate the lack of housing supply.)
Mortgage Demand Regressing Amid Rapid Rate Spike
In today’s weekly mortgage application survey from the MBA, the average 30yr fixed mortgage rate only rose from 6.73 to 6.81%. Meanwhile, daily average rates are already back over 7%. Any way you slice it, rates have been rising quickly and the fallout is completely unsurprising when it comes to refinance applications. For context, here’s how the past year fits in the bigger picture: Refinance applications wax and wane with interest rates. The present environment is particularly restrained by the fact that so many people refinanced to such low rates in 2020-2022. At the moment, the only group of borrowers with a rate-based refinance incentive are those who purchased or refinanced in late 2023 when rates were near 8%. Purchase applications are much more even-keeled, but also not loving the current rate/affordability environment. Other highlights from this week’s survey:
Refinances accounted for 39.9% of total applications, down from 43.1% last week
Average loan size fell below $300k
FHA loans were 15.5% of total vs 16.4% last week
VA loans were 12.5% of total vs 14.6% last week
Conventional rates were 6.81 up from 6.73 vs jumbo rates at 6.98 (up from 6.77… a much bigger jump)
ARM rates fell from 6.20 to 6.05, but upfront costs increased from 0.59 to 0.84.
Please Forget Everything You Think You Know About Fed Rate Cuts
Mortgage rates spent the entire month of October moving higher at a fairly quick pace. Some of that had to do with stronger economic data, but at least as much had to do with the bond market adjusting to election probabilities. As we’ve been advising in recent weeks, the consensus was that a Trump victory (or improved odds thereof) was associated with upward pressure on rates. The bond market left no doubts late last night as 10yr Treasury yields spiked almost all the way to 4.5% well before any news team was anywhere close to confirming a winner. Bonds didn’t lose any additional ground during the business day, even though that’s when a majority of the world was waking up to the news that the election was a done deal. This was not a matter of financial markets guessing or betting. It was a reflection of the efficiency of financial markets compared to analysis that isn’t trained to operate on the most immediate and precise timelines. In other words, markets knew before news organizations knew because that’s the market’s job. Follow the money. On that note, the market also knows the Federal Reserve is going to cut the Fed Funds Rate by 0.25% tomorrow. It knows this with near 100% certainty and as such, longer term rates have long since adjusted for this particular rate cut. There will be absolutely no impact on mortgage rates from tomorrow’s Fed rate cut! Any perceived impact will be due to the content of the Fed’s policy statement or Fed Chair Powell’s press conference–and that impact could play out in either direction!
Rocket Pro TPO gives brokers an edge with new pricing offer
The incentive, meant to ramp up activity in Rocket’s broker channel, is valid from Nov. 5 to Nov. 17.
There will be no boomer boom in housing supply in the near-term
Over the next decade, the housing market will have excess demand of 25 million units even as the baby boomer generation ages and dies, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Synergy One’s CEO talks about proprietary tech vs. vendor reliance
California lender Synergy One recently rolled out Synergy GPT, an enterprise AI bot, and is looking to further expand its technology use cases in 2025.