Industry Briefs Oct. 13, 2021: Ginnie Mae Reports Record Fiscal Year MBS Issuance

Ginnie Mae Reports Record Fiscal Year MBS Issuance

Ginnie Mae, Washington, D.C., reported mortgage-backed securities issuance volume for fiscal year 2021 grew to a record $939 billion, with issuance for September coming in at $73 billion. Nearly 263,061 homes and apartment units were financed by Ginnie Mae guaranteed MBS in September.

A breakdown of September 2021 issuance of $72.88 billion includes $69.26 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and $3.63 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, which in turn includes $3.5 billion of loans for multifamily housing. Ginnie Mae’s total outstanding principal balance as of September 30 rose to $2.130 trillion, up from $2.124 trillion in August and up slightly from $2.117 trillion in a year ago.

Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. Enters Alliance with M&T Realty Capital Corp.

Marcus & Millichap, Calabasas, Calif., announced its financing subsidiary, Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp., entered into an alliance with M&T Realty Capital Corp. The alliance will enable MMCC to provide clients with increased access to M&T Realty Capital’s affordable and conventional multifamily agency financing through a streamlined process with dedicated resources.

The alliance will enable MMCC originators to access M&T Realty Capital’s streamlined underwriting and transaction execution. Under the agreement, MMCC originators will continue to have the ability to clear the market on behalf of each client. Additionally, they will have access to M&T Realty Capital’s tools, resources and lending capacity.

HUD Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on LIBOR Adjustable-Rate Mortgages Transition

HUD on Oct. 5 published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, Adjustable Rate Mortgages: Transitioning from LIBOR to Alternate Indices (Docket No. FR-6151-A-01–https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/05/2021-21512/adjustable-rate-mortgages-transitioning-from-libor-to-alternate-indices?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery).

HUD is considering a rule that would address a Secretary-approved replacement index for existing loans and provide a transition date consistent with the cessation of the LIBOR index. Additionally, HUD is considering providing a Secretary-approved replacement index for legacy ARMs tied to the LIBOR index. For a replacement index, HUD is also considering the Secured Overnight Funding Rate interest rate index, which would include a compatible spread adjustment to minimize the impact of the replacement. These changes impact forward and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage programs.

A 60-day comment period runs through Dec. 5.

Black Knight Originations Market Monitor: Rate Lock Volume Falls 10% in September

Black Knight Inc., ,Jacksonville, Fla., issued its latest Originations Market Monitor report, showing overall rate locks fell by 9.7% in September from August, driven by an 18.7% drop in rate/term origination activity.

The month’s decline puts rate/term refinance lending down 57.2% year-over-year and drove the overall refinance share of the market mix back down below 50%. Locks on both cash-out refinance and purchase loans fell 6% in September, though the former are still up 21% over the last three months. Overall average credit scores remained static in September, though declines in scores on both cash-out and rate/term refinance loans could indicate higher credit borrowers starting to exit the market as rates rise. Both non-conforming and FHA/VA loan products gained market share in August, while all other products lost ground.

“Climbing rates drove down rate lock volumes across the board in September, but the largest decline was seen – once again – in locks on rate/term refinance loans, said Black Knight Secondary Marketing Technologies President Scott Happ. “It remains to be seen how much higher rates will climb – and how quickly – and in turn, how borrowers will react. It will also be important to see how and to what degree historic equity stakes and modest increases to for-sale inventory will impact cash-out and purchase lending in the coming months.”

Big Purple Dot Adds SMS/MMS Video Marketing to CRM Lead Management Platform

Big Purple Dot, Irvine, Calif., added SMS/MMS video marketing into its CRM lead management platform. The video tool, which comes with the Big Purple Dot platform at no extra charge, enables mortgage professionals to engage and retain customers.

The video marketing tool lets mortgage lenders, brokers and loan officers create, customize,and send videos to homebuyers through text and email messages. It is integrated into other Big Purple Dot services, including lead recapture tools, predictive analytics and automated marketing campaigns. The platform also enables loan officers to access prebuilt marketing content, automated marketing campaigns and workflow management tools, as well as tools for mortgage originators to recruit new loan officers and team members.

Norstar Mortgage Services Partners with Adwerx to Power Direct-to-Borrower Digital Marketing for Loan Officers

Norstar Mortgage Services, Gilbertsville, Pa., joined forces with Adwerx to help loan officers engage interested borrowers and win more referrals in today’s crowded marketplace.

Norstar Mortgage Services is leveraging Adwerx’s digital advertising automation technology to power online ads for their loan officers. The ads launch automatically across social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and premium websites visited by potential clients.

Fitch: RMBS, ABS Protected Against Asset Price Correction

Fitch Ratings, New York, said the pandemic-induced increase in home and used auto prices has been credit-positive for residential mortgage backed securities and auto asset-backed securities globally, contributing to better-than-expected asset performance. Fitch expects asset prices to revert back to long-term historical averages or sustainable values in the medium term, which is not expected to result in a material increase in negative rating actions.

Both home prices and auto recoveries are expected to cool in 2022 as demand growth moderates. Auto ABS asset projections rely on long-term historical behavior that does not consider the recent run-up in auto prices, and implicitly assumes in the base case a weakening of asset performance from currently observed levels. RMBS asset projections incorporate a counter-cyclical approach to home prices that generally assume greater home price declines in areas with rapid home price growth.

ICE Mortgage Technology: Time to Close Decreases as Closing Rates Rise

ICE Mortgage Technology, Pleasanton, Calif., released its August Origination Insight Report, noting time to close all loans decreased to 46 days in August, down from 48 days in July.

The report also said closing rates increased to 78.4 percent in August, up from 77.2 percent in July. The average FICO score on all closed loans rose to 741 in August, up one point from the month prior (740).

TitleEase Announces New Franchisee

TitleEase, Grand Rapids, Mich., announced a new franchisee, a collaboration between Northwind Financial and CFSI Loan Management.

Northwind Financial is a direct lender for private commercial real estate transactions and residential loans and CFSI Loan Management is one of the nation’s largest providers of construction loan risk management services to lenders and private clients. The new franchise is located in Grand Rapids and will initially serve customers in Michigan, Colorado, Florida and Georgia, with additional states scheduled to come online.

TitleEase provides a simplified, streamlined and fully compliant path for mortgage originators, servicers, and real estate professionals to own and operate a title agency without the burden and expense of building a platform from scratch. Franchisees own a tangible asset with its own terminal value.

CondoTek Acquires National Condo Advisors

CondoTek, Philadelphia, acquired National Condo Advisors. a condominium project approval service.

Together, the companies expand in the condominium lending market and grow their customer base through product breadth and targeted services. Asher Kahn and Joshua Kahn, Co-Founders of CondoTek, will continue to lead the company and add Orest Tomaselli, who will take on the role of President of the Project Review Division.

CondoTek was founded in 2013 and operates in all 50 States. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC acted as legal advisors to CondoTek in the transaction.

ClosingCorp: Average Closing Costs Up 10% in First-Half 2021

ClosingCorp, San Diego, released its most recent closing cost data, which showed that in the first half of 2021 national average closing costs for a single-family property rose to $6,837, including taxes, and $3,836 excluding taxes. These were 12.3% and 10.5% year-over-year increases, respectively; whereas refinance closings costs increased marginally to $2,398, a 4.87% change from the reported 2020 average of $2,287.

“In the first half of 2021, buyers faced significantly higher home prices,” said Bob Jennings, CEO of ClosingCorp. “In June, for example, the average national price hit a new high of $373,664, and in July leading home price indices registered their highest ever year-over-year gains. Although the average home price increased by nearly $45,000, the closing costs, excluding taxes, on that property only increased by $400. In fact, closing costs as a percentage of purchase prices declined this year, going from 1.06% of the transaction in 2020 down to 1.03%.  So, in addition to keeping up with high demand, the mortgage industry is doing a good job in holding down the costs it can control.”

The 2021 report shows the states with the highest average closing costs, including taxes, were District of Columbia ($30,352), Delaware ($17,831), New York ($17,582), Washington ($13,909), and Maryland ($12,056). States with the lowest closing costs, including taxes, were: Missouri ($2,102), Indiana ($2,193), North Dakota ($2,321), Kentucky ($2,355) and Wyoming ($2,509).

Computershare Loan Services Extends Sagent Loan Servicing Agreement For 6 Years

Sagent, King of Prussia, Pa., announced an agreement extension with third-party mortgage servicer, Computershare Loan Services.

Under the six-year agreement, Computershare Loan Services will continue to use Sagent’s loan servicing platform, LoanServ, and add the use of its LoanBoard platform, which automates onboarding of loan servicing at any scale. In addition, Computershare will evaluate Sagent’s servicing solutions such as CARE Enterprise and the Claims platform to power customer success for servicers, create the best consumer experience and further streamline the loss mitigation process for non-performing loans.