Mortgage applications fell for the first time in a month as key interest rates increased last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 18.
Category: News and Trends
Signs of Wavering in Remodeling Forecasts
Annual gains in homeowner spending for improvements and repairs are set to “give out” by the second half of next year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity report from the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
September Existing Home Sales Fall 2.2%
Existing home sales fell by 2.2 percent in September, following two consecutive months of increases, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday.
Garth Graham of STRATMOR Group on the Current M&A Market
Garth Graham is a senior partner with STRATMOR Group, a 30-year-old mortgage banking consulting firm. He has more than 30 years’ experience in mortgage banking, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to successful startups. At STRATMOR, he manages M&A activities, providing strategies for independent and bank-owned mortgage lenders.
Residential Briefs
Black Knight Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., launched Regulatory Assist, designed to help clients streamline the compliance-testing process and make compliance validation easier and quicker.
MBA, Trade Group CEO Letter Urges Policymakers to Get Housing Reform ‘Right this Time’
Mortgage Bankers Association President & CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, and the leaders of three other major industry trade groups penned a letter yesterday that appeared in American Banker, urging policymakers to take “thoughtful and balanced” approach to housing reform to get it “right this time.”
MBA Letter Lauds FDIC Proposed ‘Safe Harbor’ Rulemaking
The Mortgage Bankers Association, in an Oct. 21 letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., expressed strong support for a proposed rulemaking that would remove barriers for issuance of private residential mortgage-backed securities without jeopardizing safety and soundness of RMBS sponsors or investors.
MISMO Issues Draft Update to SMART Doc Implementation Guide
MISMO announced release of a draft update to its SMART Doc® Implementation Guide for member comment.
RE/MAX: September Home Sales Post Highest Gain in 3 Years
RE/MAX, Denver, marking the end of peak home-selling season, said September home sales rose by 8.1% year over year, the largest such increase since November 2016.
Lenders Can Drive Home their Expertise with Digital Transformation
Mortgage lenders are adjusting to operating in a fast-changing landscape that is more complex than ever. Technological advances, rising borrower expectations and the transformation of operations and compliance controls dominate the mortgage lending environment.