MBA Newslinks Archive

“Our explicit approach is ‘best of breed.’ We want our client to come to us and say, ‘this is what we need.’ These partnerships are critical to the success of our platforms. We want to work with the highest quality vendors as possible–so that it really adds value to our mutual clients.”–Linn Cook, senior communications manager with LendingQB, Irvine, Calif.

“The year has started off with more than its fair share of twists and turns. On the demand side, strong property fundamentals and prices should continue to support an active sales market, which will drive mortgage demand.” –MBA Vice President of Commercial/Multifamily Research and Economics Jamie Woodwell.

“Significant demand for office space in top markets that have added tens of thousands of workers during the past five years raised rents to their highest levels and pushed down vacancy rates to their lowest. Rent growth is most prominent in the large tech markets–office rents in the San Francisco Bay Area nearly double what they were five years ago. But the decrease in vacancy rate is present across both large and small tech markets.”–From a CBRE report on top tech markets.

“Better technology and standards in the loan application process combined with more time spent underwriting each loan application may be increasing the cost of loan production, but we continue to see clear benefits too. While the costs of compliance are higher and reducing the profitability of mortgage lending, there is long-term financial benefit to increased loan quality. Fewer defects and less misrepresentation will reduce repurchase risk and expenses for underwriters in the future.”–Mark Fleming, chief economist with First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif.

“A successful diversity and inclusion program is not about meeting quotas. For example, just because we increase the amount of women in leadership does not mean we’ve successfully created an inclusive environment. People often focus on the numbers, not the environment that is driving the numbers. Numbers can be indicators, but they should not be drivers when it comes to measuring the success of a diversity and inclusion initiative. It is important to focus on creating a more enriched environment and the success and numbers will follow.”–LaShandra Sartor, Divisional Vice President of Business Consulting and leader of the Diversity and Inclusion team with Quicken Loans, Detroit.

“If retailers live and die by cool, the same also holds true of retail properties, shopping centers and entire neighborhoods. And in an age of frugality, e-commerce encroachment and vast gaps in shopping center performance, ‘cool’ matters now more than ever.”–C&W Vice President of Retail Research Garrick Brown.

“HDMA will be the tip of the spear. Big data is approaching our very regimented origination world, and if we aren’t prepared to action our data, we can be assured the regulators will.”–Ruth Lee, senior director of mortgage services with Titan Lenders Corp. (MetaSource), Denver.

“Financial markets reacted severely to the Brexit, with Treasury rates dropping about 20 basis points initially. At this point, it is unclear whether this will just be a short-term disruption, or whether it will have a longer term impact. Our best guess at this point is that the impact on the mortgage market will be to keep mortgage rates lower for longer, likely leading to another pickup in refinance activity.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni, on Thursday’s historic vote in the U.K. to leave the European Union.

“The recent flight to quality in the treasury markets and increasing demand for commercial mortgage-backed securities paper has resulted in both a reduction in the pricing indices and the tightening of credit spreads, resulting in an overall lower cost of capital for borrowers of commercial real estate loans.”–Sonnenblick-Eichner Co. Principal David Sonnenblick.

“No borrower should face arbitrarily high prices for mortgage credit, especially when the burden is felt particularly hard by low- and moderate-income and first-time homebuyers. We therefore request that FHFA direct the GSEs to reduce or eliminate LLPAs going forward. Eight years after the financial crisis, mortgage credit quality has improved dramatically and regulations have improved the industries risk management practices. We believe these changes justify eliminating LLPAs.”
–From an MBA/trade group letter asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency to reduce or eliminate loan-level price adjustments charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on loans.