What We're Hearing

It would seem that certain loan brokers and retail LOs need to hit the books. According to an exclusive story that will appear on the National Mortgage News website early this afternoon, three out of every 10 loan originators who have taken the national mortgage licensing test required under the SAFE Act have failed it. If I do my math correctly that's 30%. Meanwhile, today's economic news suggests that inflation is now a concern (again) and there's fears that the Federal Reserve may hike interest rates sooner rather than later. And -- yikes -- some economists are even talking about a 'V-shaped' recovery but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, especially with the jobless rate at 10%. The yield on the 10-year is now at 3.6%. If the Fed begins hiking rates in the spring, and the central bank stops buying GSE bonds, you can bet that mortgage rates will be at 6% by April. (The mother of one of our employees just got a 30-year FRM at 4%. I would assume she bought down the rate.) But think of what a 6% FRM will do to the home buying market -- and home prices. Then again, all you industry veterans out there know that historically speaking, a 6% FRM is by no means a disaster. It's all about context...