Housing Wire

APRIL 1, 2025

Mechanics Bank and HomeStreet Inc. Under the terms of the merger which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies HomeStreet Bank will be merged with and into Mechanics Bank. Webb, chairman of the board of directors of Mechanics Bank, said in a statement.

Banks 352

Banks Due diligence Pre-approval Equity 352

Housing Wire

JANUARY 30, 2025

Sage Home Loans Corp. recently hired Bijoy John as its new senior vice president of marketing. “We are thrilled to welcome Bijoy John as the new Senior VP of Marketing at Sage Home Loans Corporation,” Sage Home Loans’ CEO Mike Malloy said in an email.

Loans 329

Loans Marketing Lending Banks 329

Housing Wire

MAY 19, 2025

With rates in the high-6% range on 30-year fixed products, borrowers are increasingly turning to 7/1 ARM products , said Mike Fratantoni , chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association , during the trade group’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference on Monday in New York City. It was a more affordable mortgage.”

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Loans Mortgages Banks Finance 311

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2025

Independent mortgage banks ( IMBs ) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported an average profit of $443 on each loan they originated in 2024, up from an average loss of $1,056 per loan in 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s annual Mortgage Bankers Performance Report.

Loans 345

Loans Banks Mortgages Industrial 345

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

Cornerstone Capital Bank , a national mortgage originator and servicer, is launching a community lending division to serve underserved communities, the company announced this week. Other offerings will include state and local down payment assistance programs, Federal Homes Loan Bank (FHLB) grants funds and more.

Lending 293

Lending Banks Mortgages Loans 293

Housing Wire

APRIL 22, 2025

Purchase loans are now outpacing refinances, and interest rates are reaching the stratosphere. However, one mortgage company is in a prime position to transform the market and deliver value to mortgage professionals. NEO Powered by Better wants to revolutionize the mortgage market. The goal is simple yet profound.

Lending 358

Lending Loans Mortgages Technology 358

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2025

the holding company for Blue Ridge Bank and BRB Financial Group Inc. , on Thursday announced that Blue Ridge Bank has entered into a definitive asset purchase and sale agreement to sell certain assets of its mortgage division. Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc. , William Beale, president and CEO of Blue Ridge Bankshares, said in a statement.

Banks 264

Banks Purchase and sale agreement Mortgages Residential 264

Housing Wire

JUNE 4, 2025

Mortgage sales professionals also need to budget for the costs associated with marketing and networking oneself. So is budget so that the originator can invest in their product and their marketing. Look for value: Coaching does not have to break the bank.

Loan Officer 339

Loan Officer Loans Sales Mortgages 339

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

Describing the modern-day mortgage market as challenging would be an understatement, to say the least. The average rate throughout 2024 for 30-year fixed mortgages was 6.72% higher than it was during the 2008 market crash. It reflects another pressing issue of imbalanced supply and demand in the housing market.

Loans 288

Loans Mortgages Equity Construction 288

Housing Wire

APRIL 10, 2025

Volatility is becoming the new norm in today’s commercial real estate market. To help investors survive uncertain times, professionals must understand market trends and develop a game plan for success. His words contain valuable knowledge that investors need to thrive in this market. A change is needed.

Investor 440

Investor Commercial Finance Technology 440

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

In August 2023 , the bank disclosed it was under investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after the nonprofit organization filed a complaint alleging violations of the U.S. and we are honored to support these efforts through our loans, investments and grants.” million to certain California markets.

Loan Officer 396

Loan Officer Lending Banks Loans 396

Housing Wire

MARCH 13, 2025

Vice Capital Markets , a mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, announced Thursday that it is the first to integrate Fannie Mae s new loan pricing application programming interface (API) into its trading portal.

Loans 199

Loans Marketing Banks Mortgages 199

Housing Wire

APRIL 28, 2025

During last week’s earnings call, PennyMac Financial Services chairman and CEO David Spector said during a Q&A with investors and analysts that the company’s goals include continued growth in its broker direct channel and 10% market share by the end of 2026 a goal of more than 100% growth over the next 18 months.

Marketing 361

Marketing Principal Loans Mortgages 361

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 12, 2024

Every title company wanted a great piece of the current refi market and most would do about anything to obtain it.The problem; almost all were late to the party and not prepared. Unfortunate for most, whereas a few had prepared, most did not see the magnitude of this market anomaly! Consumers were refinancing in astronomical numbers!

Title 351

Title Marketing Banks Loans 351

Housing Wire

MARCH 25, 2025

What’s the deal with all the discussion across the lending community about the fluctuation of the loan officer population recently? There have been social media posts and editorials debating the current total number of loan officers, whether the population has decreased, and if so, by how much.

Loan Officer 205

Loan Officer Loans Mortgages Industrial 205

Housing Wire

MAY 21, 2025

that have long been viewed as a refuge for affordable homeownership are now grappling with rising prices , limited inventory and increasing competition pressures once thought unique to urban housing markets. ” Inventory squeeze, financial access The report found that rural housing markets are increasingly behaving like urban ones.

New Construction 312

New Construction Banks Lending Construction 312

Housing Wire

MAY 12, 2025

The mortgage market might still be sluggish, but for originators willing to look beyond the traditional, theres real momentum building in the non-QM space. HousingWire: The current market presents a unique window of opportunity especially for borrowers who fall outside traditional lending guidelines. today according to the U.S.

Loans 279

Loans Investor Renovation Equity 279

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

In a new episode of “The Loan Officer Podcast,” host Dustin Owen chats with John Cornish of Iowa-based Key Mortgage Group about his path into the industry, tips for scaling a mortgage lending business and how to avoid stagnation as a loan originator. Cornish started his career in mortgage banking at Wells Fargo in Iowa in 2003.

Mortgages 369

Mortgages Sales Loan Officer Lending 369

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 30, 2024

In the 16 years since the peak of the Global Financial Crisis, the structured products industry has transformed from a market dominated by large banks to one with space for new players. Non-QMs are attractive because they have strong credit quality, low loan-to-value ratios, and stable origination volumes.

Banks 384

Banks Due diligence Residential Investor 384

Housing Wire

AUGUST 8, 2024

Christopher George, the founder of California-based multichannel mortgage lender CMG Financial , has struck a deal to acquire Greenwoods Financial Group , the owner of Greenwoods State Bank. In 2023, the company added Homebridge Financial Services ‘ retail division in March and Shamrock Home Loans ’ origination team in November.

Banks 439

Banks Equity Mortgages Loans 439

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

The interest rate on the loan has been lowered from 9.99% to 9.49%. Interest rates on second-lien loans tend to be higher when compared to first liens, reflecting the higher amount of risk to the lender. In October 2023, FOA announced a rollout of HomeSafe Second to an expanded pool of direct retail loan officers and wholesale brokers.

Mortgages 404

Mortgages Equity Loan Officer Loans 404

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Lenders also gain access to CreditGauge, Inclusion360, RiskRatio and MarketGain to evaluate consumer health, highlight underserved consumers, evaluate default levels and survey market opportunities.

Mortgages 391

Mortgages Principal Banks Loans 391

Housing Wire

JANUARY 14, 2025

HousingWires Mortgage Rates Center showed that the average 30-year conforming loan rate was 7.15% on Tuesday, up 6 basis points (bps) from a week ago. The 15-year conforming loan rate averaged 7.34% on Tuesday up an astonishing 23 bps in the past week. when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) wraps up its next meeting on Jan.

Mortgages 397

Mortgages Banks Loans Finance 397

Housing Wire

MAY 19, 2025

Gregory Tsang is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of eRESI , a Non-QM correspondent whole loan investor offering both Delegated and Non-Delegated options. Co-founded in 2019 alongside President Tim Wang, eRESI was created to deliver consistent, long-term capital to support the growing Non-QM market.

Lending 199

Lending Loans Due diligence Investor 199

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 30, 2024

When asked whether loan buybacks were a more significant issue last year than now, Freddie Mac executive Sonu Mittal says emphatically, “It depends on who you ask.” Freddie Mac has seen a nearly 55% reduction in repurchase requests from its peak in the first quarter of 2023. This expands upon a pilot program launched earlier this year.

Debt-to-income ratio 402

Debt-to-income ratio Loans Loan Officer Finance 402

Housing Wire

MAY 29, 2025

What happens when competitors pursue scale in a static yet strategically important market? For subservicers, managing loans can generate stable income through fees, and when agreements allow and align with their strategy, it opens doors for cross-selling activity. Indeed, the total residential subservicing market declined to $3.96

Mortgages 339

Mortgages Loans Banks Industrial 339

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

The rapid collapse of four regional banks that began last March shocked regulators and investors alike. The banks had courted high-net-worth clients working in speculative tech and crypto startups in Silicon Valley, while also tying up a large portion of the banks’ assets in Treasury securities. By the end of Feb.

Banks 440

Banks Mortgages Commercial Residential 440

Housing Wire

MARCH 24, 2025

26 in Dallas, provided valuable insights into the forces shaping the mortgage and housing markets in 2025. Dark Matter Technologies makes it a priority to stay ahead of these trends, ensuring our clients have the right tools to scale efficiently when market conditions change. The HousingWire Economic Summit, held Feb.

Technology 356

Technology Loan Officer Loans Banks 356

Housing Wire

MAY 24, 2024

Bank appointed John Hummel to lead its East market for retail home lending. Bank, will now oversee a team of 750 sales managers and mortgage loan officers responsible for generating $7 billion in originations, according to a news release. Bank is a consumer and business banking company owned by US Bancorp.

Banks 416

Banks Lending Loan Officer Loans 416

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Sandoval said her approach is one that is difficult for banks and mortgage servicers to replicate, not only because of the face-to-face experience she offers but also because of the inherent – and often misguided– distrust that many distressed homeowners have for financial institutions. “There is nothing like that face to face.

Bankruptcy 421

Bankruptcy Equity Hard money loan Finance 421

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week that they have secured a $15 million conciliation agreement with New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank to settle allegations of discriminatory redlining in certain neighborhoods with majority Black, Hispanic and Asian populations. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S.

Banks 411

Banks Lending Loans Loan Officer 411

Housing Wire

JANUARY 19, 2024

Tennessee-based community bank Patriot Bank agreed to pay $1.9 The DOJ alleged that from 2015 through at least 2020, Patriot avoided providing mortgage services to majority- Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee and discouraged people seeking credit in those communities from obtaining home loans.

Banks 452

Banks Loan Officer Lending Loans 452

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2024

On Wednesday, UWM unveiled a new cash-out refinance product —dubbed Cash-Out 90—that allows borrowers to refinance with a loan-to-value ratio of up to 89.99% without requiring mortgage insurance (MI). Loan amounts, however, cannot exceed conforming limits. However, “There’s no free lunch. How much will borrowers pay?

Equity 421

Equity Loans Mortgages Loan Officer 421

Housing Wire

MAY 27, 2025

Banking and mortgage technology company nCino made a large reduction in force (RIF) ahead of its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. “To exceed market demands, technology alone won’t allow us to move faster, we need to be intentional about eliminating overage, redundancies and bureaucracy.”

Technology 324

Technology Banks Commercial Mortgages 324

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

The baseline conforming loan limit for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2024 will be $766,550, up 5.5% Conforming loan limits are increasing at a slower pace, mirroring home prices, overall. In 2022, the housing market was a little hotter than this year due to lower mortgage rates, pushing home prices up.

Loans 533

Loans Finance Mortgages Land 533

Housing Wire

MAY 28, 2024

FDIC) this month announced a settlement with Arkansas-based Bank of England over alleged violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The bank has been issued an order to pay a civil penalty of $1.5

Banks 421

Banks Mortgages VA loan Loan Officer 421

Housing Wire

APRIL 10, 2025

Americas housing market isnt just cooling its frozen in place. Banks and credit unionsmany of which depend on mortgage activity to fuel lending, gather deposits, and generate fee incomeare facing an extended drought. Servicing portfolios are clogged with long-dated, low-yield loans that strain balance sheets.

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Design Marketing Fixed-rate mortgage Finance 224