While the company’s long-term issuer default rating has slipped a little, affiliates of Blackstone that have a higher one back the reverse mortgage player.

Regulators will now accept feedback until Jan 16, 2024 — a six-week extension — concurrent with a Federal Reserve effort to gather additional information about the potential implications of the proposed capital changes.

Unlike some banks that reported earlier, the subsidiary of PlainsCapital Bank saw its gain on sale decrease from the second quarter.

The median nationwide home price also increased by 2% to a new high of $350,000, according to a report published by Attom.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu says the process of determining whether certain lending activities and investments qualify for Community Reinvestment Act credit under regulators’ forthcoming final rule “has to be better and it’s got to be faster” than the status quo.

Mortgage rates finally broke the 8% ceiling this week after months of gradual upward movement in the 7% range. At the same time, Existing Home Sales fell to the lowest levels in more than a decade. Pretty gloomy… but there are silver linings and perhaps even some overly optimistic Kool Aid to drink. As always, we’ll try to focus on the warm bowl of porridge in the middle. It’s very true.  The following charts of home sales and interest rates are not great. But unlike the last time home sales were this low, we’re in the midst of a supply shortage as opposed to a glut. That has allowed the housing market to be much more resilient in terms of home prices.  In year-over-year terms, prices are already back in positive territory. We can also consider that the charts above pertain to EXISTING home sales, where the inventory depends on homeowners wanting or needing to sell.  With many of those homeowners still paying the 2-3% mortgage rates obtained 2020-21, the reluctance to give that up in favor of a 7-8% rate is no surprise. That’s why the charts look much better when they focus on new home sales, which are nowhere near their 2010 levels.  In fact, they’ve been trending higher and are currently in line with pre-pandemic levels. For those who want to take silver linings into potential “Kool Aid” territory, we could start to look at things like the balance of recent Fed comments which suggest the Fed is done hiking rates unless inflation flares up in an unexpected way.  Just this week, that sentiment helped turn the tide after this week’s strong Retail Sales sent Fed rate expectations quickly higher on Tuesday.  By the end of the week, the market saw next year’s Fed Funds Rate about a quarter of a point lower.

“Who closes the door when the bus driver gets off? The world is full of questions. “Why have all the predictions of lower rates been wrong?” Yesterday I was in the SF Bay Area giving a speech to a group of LOs and management and was asked, “Rob, are you hearing that lenders are requesting clients pay for the credit report(s) up front?” Absolutely I am. Lenders have grown weary of paying for the credit reports of loans that don’t fund and heaping those rising costs on the loans that do. “Rob, are mergers and acquisitions going to pick up?” Yes. We had one recent depository bank deal (Mississippi’s Guaranty Capital Corporation will acquire Lafayette Bancorp, Inc.), but we can expect continued deals in an 8 percent mortgage rate world as lenders and vendors, big and small, re-evaluate either their position in the market or even if they want to continue to exist. (Today’s podcast can be found here: Sponsored by nCino, maker of the nCino Mortgage Suite, built for the modern mortgage lender. The nCino Mortgage Suite unites the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process. Hear an interview with nCino’s Ben Miller on the rapidly evolving digital mortgage suite of products.) Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services Truv saves Lenders 60-80% over The Work Number. That’s the savings of multiple full-time employees. For example, Compass Mortgage saved roughly 60 percent in verification costs and maintained their same conversion rate. “Truv has given us the ability to lower costs, all while speeding up the verification process and providing better employment data” said Justin Venhousen, COO, Compass Mortgage. Stop wasting money. Contact TRUV today to discuss how we can help you with your income, employment, insurance, and asset verifications.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., again pressed the Federal Reserve for economic analysis of capital proposals, while Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., reintroduced a bill that would limit the Fed’s ability to extend money to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

More than half the amount the Treasury handed down to the states got to recipients even with delays in jurisdictions like Pennsylvania.

The Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision says the failure of Silicon Valley Bank showed the shortcomings of the current stress testing regime.