Industry Briefs Nov. 12, 2021: Ginnie Mae October MBS Issuance Tops $69B

Ginnie Mae Reports October MBS Issuance of More than $69 Billion; More than 250,000 Homes Financed

Ginnie Mae, Washington, D.C. reported mortgage-backed securities issuance volume for October rose to $69.36 billion. It said 253,996 homes and apartment units were financed by Ginnie Mae guaranteed MBS.

A breakdown of October issuance includes $65.84 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and $3.52 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, which in turn includes $3.4 billion of loans for multifamily housing. Ginnie Mae’s total outstanding principal balance as of September 30 rose to $2.135 trillion, up from $2.126 trillion in September and up slightly from $2.114 trillion a year ago.

Urban Institute Tool Targets Racial, Ethnic Housing Gaps

The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., developed a data tool to uncover drivers of racial and ethnic housing gaps.

The tool targets segregation, redlining, displacement and other discriminatory practices, accumulating wealth through homeownership is harder for many families of color. Users can apply the tool to search for a city to see how housing wealth is distributed where they live.

Drawing from virtual visits to six major U.S. markets, the developers have also identified tools that can boost homeownership and the financial benefits it bestows on households of color.

Stewart Acquires Las Cruces Abstract and Title

Stewart Title, Houston, announced its acquisition of Las Cruces Abstract and Title, an established title agent serving Dona Ana, Hidalgo and Luna counties. The acquisition of Las Cruces expands Stewart’s presence in southern New Mexico and adds an experienced agent and long-time partner to the Stewart family of companies.

Las Cruces Abstract and Title has been incorporated in New Mexico for 95 years.

TMC Emerging Technology Fund LP Invests in Clever Real Estate

The Mortgage Collaborative, San Diego, announced the TMC Emerging Technology Fund LP recently participated in a Series B investment round for Clever Real Estate.

Clever offers free educational resources — including advice, reviews and guides — to help consumers navigate their real estate journey. They also match sellers and buyers with vetted local real estate agents and other service providers to negotiate lower rates on their behalf.

The Limited Partners of the TMC Emerging Technology Fund consist of technology-forward lender members of TMC. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that are leveraging technology to bring transformational change to the mortgage and real estate industries, with a particular emphasis on investment opportunities that will result in higher profitability and business process improvement for TMC lender members.

First American Data & Analytics Enhances 3D Mapping to DataTree

First American Data & Analytics, Santa Ana, Calif., added enhanced 3D mapping functionality to DataTree, its real estate research platform. DataTree users now have enhanced visualization capabilities for 150 million residential properties.

The 3D mapping feature helps users identify the contour of the terrain, providing greater insight into whether a lot is buildable or not. For example, a 2D-only view might obscure a steep slope or a drop-off that might make the site unsuitable for building. The new 3D functionality allows users to visualize the contours of an empty parcel of land or what the land surrounding an existing structure looks like in terms of slope and elevation.

HUD Awards $36 Million to Boost Economic Development, Affordable Housing

More than 250 communities across the country will increase the economic impact of their local community development and affordable housing programs for low- and moderate-income persons through $36 million in “capacity-building” grants awarded by HUD.

The funds awarded will support three national organizations and are ultimately expected to produce 8,000 units of affordable housing nationwide and stimulate nearly $150 million in total investment. Three national groups were selected to distribute the funds to local initiatives that support affordable housing and community development – Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC); Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.; and Habitat for Humanity International.

FHA Publishes Revised Title I Policies for Financing Manufactured Homes

The Federal Housing Administration published significantly revised and enhanced policies under its Single-Family Title I Manufactured Home Loan Program for lenders to provide loans for financing of manufactured homes, including those titled as personal property, and the lots on which these homes will reside.

The enhanced policies provide updated guidance that will make the program easier to understand and use for lenders, while providing expanded eligibility requirements for loan financing that are consistent with the criteria for income and property valuations used in real-estate mortgage financing. FHA’s new Title I policies have now been incorporated into the Single-Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1.

Bradford Allen New York Joins TCN Worldwide As New York City Market Affiliate

TCN Worldwide, New York an alliance of top independent commercial real estate brokerage firms serving more than 200 markets globally, announced Bradford Allen New York has joined the network as its newest firm and flagship New York City affiliate.

The office provides a wide scope of commercial real estate services in multiple property sectors to the New York City market and is the first Manhattan location for Bradford Allen, a national commercial real estate services firm headquartered in Chicago. As the newest member of TCN Worldwide, Bradford Allen New York will now have access to a global network of real estate experts with the ability to tap into a broader range of additional transaction management and consulting services.

MortgageHippo Adds New Data Capabilities

MortgageHippo, Chicago, a consumer-centric, no-code/low-code digital lending platform, released new data capabilities, including embedded data analytics dashboards and reporting to make it easier for lenders to glean insights from their data. The move is part of a larger data project through which MortgageHippo will significantly expand its user’s BI capabilities.

All data has been anonymized and contains no borrower personal identifying information. The new functionality offers significant benefits to lenders who work with MortgageHippo, including the ability to benchmark their performance across their peer group.

SimpleNexus Adds Nexus Bilingual for Spanish-Speaking Borrowers

SimpleNexus, Lehi, Utah, released Nexus Bilingual, a new feature that makes the loan process more accessible to prospective homebuyers who prefer to communicate in Spanish by gathering initial loan information in Spanish.

Nexus Bilingual enables prospective borrowers to initiate purchase and refinance mortgage loan inquiries in Spanish. When prospective borrowers submit a Spanish-language loan inquiry, Nexus Bilingual informs them that a member of their lender’s Spanish-speaking staff will reach out to help them complete the process in English and educate them on next steps.

American Equity Selects SS&C as Loan Servicing Partner

SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc., Windsor, Conn., announced American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. will migrate its $5.4 billion commercial, agricultural and residential mortgage loan portfolio to Precision LM. SS&C’s loan management platform, to automate loan servicing, operations and regulatory reporting for the Des Moines, Iowa, insurer.

Precision LM will support multiple loan types for American Equity, including 800 commercial mortgages and more than 2,000 residential loans. Further, the platform integrates with SS&C’s eCorrespondent platform to improve document collection and collaboration with American Equity’s multiple third-party correspondent loan servicers.