BREAKING NEWS
Mortgage Applications Down 12% in MBA Weekly Survey
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.
Existing home sales fell by 2.2 percent in September, following two consecutive months of increases, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
