United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) rolled out a new adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) product for jumbo loans in an effort to provide brokers more options in a highly competitive mortgage origination market. UWM’s Prime Jumbo Max pricing offers a seven- or 10-year ARM with a rate/term and cash-out refi for a maximum loan amount as much as […more]
Xactus will add flood services to its list of verification solutions with the acquisition of MassiveCert, a software company that provides flood zone determinations for insurance, lending and real estate. With the acquisition, Xactus will offer flood zone determinations to its clients by using its proprietary flood data and technology products, the firm said Wednesday. […more]
Nonbank mortgage lender Pennymac Financial Services laid off 32 additional employees in July, ahead of its scheduled Aug. 2 second-quarter earnings report. It marks the California-based company’s third round of layoffs this year, as Pennymac had a workforce reduction of 236 employees in March and cut another 207 staff members in May. According to a […more]
Freddie Mac’s net income for the second quarter slipped to $2.5 billion, a 33% year-over-year decline, as it grapples with the mortgage sector’s vulnerability to fluctuations in interest rates. Freddie Mac’s net income for the year so far has decreased to $6.3 billion compared to $6.4 billion in 2021. But while Freddie Mac’s net income […more]
During their first quarter 2022 earnings calls with investors, “Big Four” title insurers, Stewart Information Services Corporation and First American Financial, both stressed how prepared they were to take on a rising interest rate environment. Based on second quarter 2022 earnings, it appears, that at least for now, their preparedness is paying off. While neither […more]
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill late Wednesday creating federal minimum standards, which would allow notaries nationwide to perform remote online notarizations. The legislation passed the House with a vote of 336-90. A key to advancing the universal adoption of fully electronic mortgages is the creation of remote online notarization (RON) standards across […more]
Measured prior to yesterday’s announcement of another 75 basis point hike to the federal funds rate, the average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage had dropped 24 basis points (0.24 percentage points) over the past week to 5.30 percent, which was still 250 basis points and roughly 90 percent higher than at the same time […more]
The Federal Reserve hiked rates 0.75% on Wednesday, which was mostly expected by market participants before the announcement. The question is, will the Fed keep aggressively hiking rates if the economic data worsens? I say this because I’ve raised all but one of my six recession red flags. I need to wait for one more […more]
The emerging real estate brokerage model is starting to include more and more services in order to stay competitive. But is this what disruption looks like in the real estate space? Or, have brokerages started to focus in on partnering when it comes to innovative decisions? Tapping into his experience and knowledge as the president […more]
After making some major pivots over the last few years, the housing industry is once again in a new cycle. So what does a purchase-driven market mean for marketing professionals, especially in a world where marketers are helping make many strategic decisions in a company? From launching rebrands to finding ways to fuel the sales […more]