Underwriting

In the wake of the Surfside condo collapse, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae instituted stricter rules regarding the soundness of this crucial form of housing stock as it ages. In response to complaints about a lack of clarity on buildings deemed unfit for financing, the GSE unveiled plans to improve transparency for both homeowners associations and lenders. 

At the same time, the Hilltop Holdings unit expects its gain-on-sale margins to remain pressured in the coming year.

Industry consolidation has resulted in fewer conventional and government loan programs being offered to consumers.

Over one-quarter of consumers said they are open to making misstatements to get a house, while 60% gave an answer besides absolutely not when asked if they would follow advice to put in misleading information.

Those who establish a history of paying for housing may be able to buy and live in property with rental income, but there are risks to the emerging strategy.

The title company was also attacked in 2019 and joins Fidelity National and Mr. Cooper among recent victims.

The effects of expected lower mortgage interest rates are boosting a lot of different facets of the housing market.

Loans for new homes are up 22% while overall purchase volume is down 20%, the Mortgage Bankers Association found.

The companies failed to warn borrowers on newly originated loans regarding the consequences of missing payments, both potential class action lawsuits filed by Rogge Dunn claim.

Decreasing availability of jumbo and non-QM products accounted for most of November's pullback, as other types of loan offerings saw minimal changes, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Procedural limits on condo originations aimed at preventing issues like the Surfside building collapse have frustrated lenders, who will see if this helps.

Kenon Chen, executive vice president, strategy and growth, at Clear Capital, discusses data sourcing that can best serve the mortgage and underwriting process and how it can be done in an ethical way to achieve maximum benefit.

This business, tied to the mortgage origination outlook, is becoming ly attractive for 2024, according to BTIG.

Some proposed changes to uniform mortgage-backed securities, apartment loans and derivatives will be made while one involving credit reports and scores was pulled.

A complicating factor is that many consumers do not understand how their real estate agent – on either the buy- or sell-side – actually gets paid, Clever Real Estate found.

Thirty percent of single women borrowers were not confident going into the mortgage experience, with a quarter of them claiming not to trust their loan officer, a Maxwell survey found.

The program helped more than 23,000 consumers establish credit scores in its first year through partnerships with three fintechs, all of which were chosen to renew their participation.

All of the loans were originated by CrossCountry Mortgage, which previously had a relationship for this product with Starwood.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture program should also allow existing manufactured home sales to be financed, they said.