Finding new customers and getting more business from current ones are the top two business pressures facing mortgage bankers today, according to the results of a survey taken by Comergence during the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Chicago.
The company used tablet computers to gauge the opinion of the attendees who came by the company's booth.
Greg Schroeder, president of the Mission Viejo, Calif.-based company, commented, “The majority surveyed feel good about the outlook for our industry and that we'll get through this cycle but not until sometime in 2013. “Brokers are not going away, subprime lending will be back, business/sales are up and they're hiring. Respondents are spending most of their money in technology and compliance—certainly due to all the legislated regulation I'm sure.
“Social media is becoming mainstream in most marketing efforts with LinkedIn and Facebook being the two leaders. All in all, I'd say this survey demonstrates a pretty positive outlook for our industry.”
Aside from customer acquisition and retention, 14% of those who took the survey said one of the two biggest pressures they faced is the threat of new competition, while a similar number said the inability to analyze and gain insights from customer information.
For those who answered other, regulations was the most reason entered by respondents.
More than half of the respondents believe that the third party originations channels will remain, with 29% believing they will go away and another 18% stating they were not sure.
Almost eight in 10 said they don't see the mortgage business getting better until 2013 or beyond. Meanwhile, 68% of those who took the survey believe subprime will return as a viable product (with 38% saying it would only be with proper guidelines in place). Another 12% said the Federal Housing Administration-insured loans have replaced subprime, while 19% said the industry has learned its lesson and will stay away from the product.
In a sign of bad news for the industry, a plurality of 48% believe the registering and testing involved with the National Mortgage Licensing System has helped weed out the bad actors, with 30% saying it hasn't and 22% not sure.
And nearly three-quarters of respondents said no when asked if they felt consumers trusted the mortgage industry again, while a mere 13% said yes.
There is no industry consensus on which area in the business they are spending money on right now. Technology was the response for 31%, followed by 27% who are spending it on personnel, 23% on compliance and 18% on marketing.
At the time of the survey, two-thirds said their companies were hiring, while 24% said they were not hiring and only 4% said they were reducing head count. The mortgage industry seems to be gravitating to the social media. Only 2% said they never visited any social networking sites, while another 16% said they did so “not often.”
