Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2024

House of Representatives proposes to relieve Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers of mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) once they reach a certain level of home equity , aligning FHA policies with those of conventional loans. Mortgage insurance exists as protection from foreclosure on low equity loans.

FHA loan 397

FHA loan Mortgages Equity Loans 397

Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

Heading into the 2025 housing market, we havent had this many homeowners with mortgage rates over 6% since 2016. of outstanding mortgages, around 8.7 million borrowers, carry a mortgage with an interest rate over 6%. had these cheap mortgages. People with expensive mortgages are more likely to sell their house.

Mortgages 466

Mortgages Finance Loans Equity 466

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

In today’s challenging market, higher interest rates and home values have created a unique opportunity for lenders to grow their home equity lending business. Despite the recent interest rate reduction , the demand for home equity products remains strong. According to ICE’s Mortgage Monitor , tappable home equity has grown by $5.5

Equity 369

Equity Lending Loans Renovation 369

Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2025

More than $700 billion in home equity is effectively trapped and inaccessible to homeowners due to a variety of economic circumstances, including employment shocks and shifts in the market that negatively impact their credit scores. This exacerbates existing barriers to credit and access to home equity.

Equity 338

Equity Lending Development Loans 338

Housing Wire

MAY 5, 2025

San Francisco-based home equity solutions provider Unison announced Monday that it’s lowering the annual percentage rate (APR) on its Equity Sharing Home Loan, an alternative funding vehicle aimed at helping U.S. homeowners tap into record levels of equity. Rates for high-risk borrowers sometimes exceed 12%.

Equity 284

Equity Loans Mortgages Finance 284

Housing Wire

MAY 20, 2025

John Toohig stood at a podium as the moderator of a panel about home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and asked an illustrative question of the audience of mortgage professionals. How many of you have a mortgage first lien, 30-year with a 4% coupon or lower? trillion in available equity among U.S. homeowners and $11.5

Equity 288

Equity Loan Officer Loans Banks 288

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 16, 2024

Homeowners have generally done well over the last few years in accumulating home equity wealth. Since the onset of the pandemic, average equity per borrower increased by about $117,000 nationally, totaling almost $312,000 per mortgaged borrower. Aggregated across borrowers with a mortgage, home equity adds up to almost $17.5

Equity 370

Equity Mortgages Loans Design 370

Housing Wire

APRIL 9, 2025

High mortgage rates have made moving or buying a new house less appealing, said Ebonee Johnikin, a real estate agent based in Laurel, Miss. Many baby boomers have already paid off their homes or have a low fixed mortgage that they dont want to give up. Representatives from Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.

Equity 378

Equity Mortgages Industrial Loans 378

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

Describing the modern-day mortgage market as challenging would be an understatement, to say the least. Mortgage interest rates have steadily ramped up throughout 2024. The average rate throughout 2024 for 30-year fixed mortgages was 6.72% higher than it was during the 2008 market crash. Finance a loan, and you may lose money.

Loans 288

Loans Mortgages Equity Construction 288

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 4, 2024

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced last week that the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage ( HECM ) limit for 2025 will be $1,209,750. It’s the ninth straight year that the limit will increase based on home-price appreciation levels, which feeds into a single, national limit for all HECM loans.

Mortgages 384

Mortgages Equity Lending Loans 384

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2024

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) announced on Wednesday that it’s offering a conventional cash-out loan product with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of up to 90% and no mortgage insurance. In addition, loan amounts cannot exceed conforming limits. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate declined from a peak of 7.5%

Mortgages 410

Mortgages Equity Loans Banks 410

Housing Wire

JANUARY 2, 2025

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements saw a healthy increase in October 2024. to 2,392 loans for the month, according to data compiled by Reverse Market Insight (RMI). Case number assignments mark a crucial first step in the process of originating a reverse mortgage. Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.

Mortgages 389

Mortgages Equity Principal Loans 389

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Jonathon Haddad, chairman and CEO of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME), is one of the owners of Next Door. 1, NerdWallet is paying $1 million in cash for the outstanding equity interests of Next Door. The analysis includes first-lien mortgage originations. Before that, he spent six years at Quicken Loans.

Lending 465

Lending Mortgages Loan Officer Principal 465

Housing Wire

JANUARY 17, 2025

Seattle-based WaFd Bank , which has offered home loans for more than 100 years, announced Thursday in an earnings report that it will exit the single-family mortgage lending business. That is bad news for banks like WaFd Bank, because it has made the business of originating mortgages for our portfolio unsustainable.

Lending 384

Lending Banks Mortgages Commercial 384

Housing Wire

APRIL 28, 2025

billion deal to acquire digital real estate brokerage firm Redfin , industry observers are still trying to understand the future of one key asset: Bay Equity Home Loans. While the companies remain quiet on their plans, some Bay Equity employees arent waiting for answerstheyre already looking for new jobs. billion in 2022, $4.2

Loan Officer 370

Loan Officer Equity Loans Brokerage 370

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Economists pointed to lower mortgage rates as the reason for slower growth. Despite the Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut in September, rates for 30-year conforming loans have climbed back up to 6.7%, according to HousingWire ’s Mortgage Rates Center. gain year over year, less than the 4.8% gain from July.

Mortgages 461

Mortgages MLS Equity Loans 461

Housing Wire

JANUARY 24, 2025

Business-purpose residential mortgage lender Dunmor announced Thursday that it has received a minority equity investment from Newfi Lending , a nonagency mortgage lender owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management. According to Dunmor, the investment is an extension of an original partnership initiated in June 2024.

Equity 352

Equity Lending Residential Branding 352

Housing Wire

JUNE 9, 2025

Unlike the pre-2008 era, stricter lending standards and robust regulations have kept mortgage delinquency rates low, significantly lowering the odds of a catastrophic collapse. In 2008, DTI ratios averaged 43%, leaving borrowers vulnerable to payment shocks from risky adjustable-rate mortgages as home values plummeted. The 2025 U.S.

Marketing 433

Marketing Debt-to-income ratio Fixed-rate mortgage Loans 433

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Tim Nelson, a longtime reverse mortgage industry professional and reverse department manager at VIP Mortgage in Scottsdale, Arizona , spent 20 years in the home lending arena before shifting his focus entirely to reverse. Nelson is now a reverse mortgage borrower in addition to being an industry professional.

Mortgages 367

Mortgages Loan Officer Equity Lending 367

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

Founder and CEO Vishal Garg made a eye-popping statement when he opined that “in the next 10 years, 99% of the (mortgage) tasks will be completed by bots and 1% by humans.” “The bulk of the tasks that are required to process a mortgage are going to be performed by AI bots over the next 10 years,” Garg said in an interview with HousingWire.

Mortgages 365

Mortgages Loan Officer Loans Technology 365

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Home equity solutions provider Unison launched a new product on Tuesday that combines the features of traditional mortgage financing and emerging home equity investment (HEI) options. The San Francisco -based Unison calls its new offering the Equity Sharing Home Loan. home equity by the end of this year.

Equity 430

Equity Loans Debt-to-income ratio Renovation 430

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Finance of America (FOA), the leading reverse mortgage lender, presented a robust outlook last week in its third-quarter 2024 earnings and is aiming to hit the ground running with business in 2025. The product was first introduced in 2018, marking the industry’s first-ever second-lien reverse mortgage option.

Mortgages 368

Mortgages Equity Lending Design 368

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Employment data for October is set to be released Friday, and it will go a long way in determining the path for mortgage rates, which have surged upward in the past month. At HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center on Tuesday, the average rate for 30-year conforming loans was 6.72%. This equated to homes being 9.2%

Mortgages 414

Mortgages Equity Loans Marketing 414

Housing Wire

JANUARY 3, 2025

Reverse mortgage professionals made more inroads into the forward mortgage industry in 2024. This happened through dedicated conversations, partnerships between reverse and forward mortgage companies, and expanded activities in reverse that stemmed from acquisitions and expansions of existing divisions.

Mortgages 397

Mortgages Lending Loan Officer Loans 397

Housing Wire

APRIL 21, 2025

As one of only a few states considering more stringent regulation of the home equity investment (HEI)/home equity contract product category, lawmakers in the state of Washington have requested an academic study to assess the impacts on state residents who may use an HEI to tap into their home equity.

Equity 259

Equity Principal Loans Mortgages 259

Housing Wire

APRIL 16, 2025

Equity Smart Home Loans made a splash Wednesday by announcing it is severing ties with United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and partnering with Rocket Pro. A lot of our loan officers are struggling. So we’re behind our loan officers, our consumers come first,” Martinez said during the interview.

Equity 215

Equity Loans Loan Officer Mortgages 215

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

There is constant movement in the mortgage industry with the desire for growth and expansion. It is easy to become blinded by the end goal of increasing loan volume and quality origination talent. Thus, it has never been more important to focus on due diligence in analyzing a mortgage industry acquisition target.

Due diligence 395

Due diligence Purchase and sale agreement Industrial Mortgages 395

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Guild Mortgage CEO Terry Schmidt said during a third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that Guild’s reverse mortgage division continues to contribute to companywide strategies, and that additional interest in reverse has been observed. We service most of our own loans on the traditional side as well as the reverse side.

Mortgages 369

Mortgages Equity Lending Branding 369

Housing Wire

MAY 2, 2025

The reverse mortgage industrys premier trade association held its first event of 2025 this past week. What does get noticed is the number of loans we do the size of the industry. And if reverse mortgages are underutilized, reverse for purchase is so underutilized, its almost criminal. But a lot of it goes unnoticed.

Mortgages 411

Mortgages Industrial Land Equity 411

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

In honor of the 2025 Tech100 nomination season, HousingWire asked leaders from last year’s Tech100-winning companies including Flueid , Vesta , Gridbase and MyHome, a Williston Financial Group Company to share some examples of how their technology has helped transform a traditional real estate and mortgage process.

Title 368

Title Mortgages Title search Bankruptcy 368

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

Rocket Companies ’ third-quarter earnings call offered a glimpse into a key element of its 2025 strategy for Rocket Mortgage — driving profits through ridiculously high recapture rates and an expanding servicing portfolio. Here’s HousingWire’s early look at Rocket Mortgage’s 2025 recapture play strategy.

Mortgages 367

Mortgages Equity Loans Principal 367

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 10, 2024

Mortgage lenders can also benefit from these projects through a variety of products, including home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). The vast amount of home equity accumulated across the country could be a path to addressing these issues. And there are now 32 million borrowers who have at least $100,000 in tappable equity.

Renovation 450

Renovation Equity Lending Banks 450

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced this week that the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage ( HECM ) limit for 2025 will be $1,209,750. The HECM limit is unique when compared to FHA limits that govern Title II forward mortgage lending programs. But seniors hold onto a large portion of the nation’s housing wealth.

Mortgages 356

Mortgages Equity Loans Title 356

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2024

UWM has debuted a new cash-out refi product without mortgage insurance. United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has the mortgage industry abuzz over its latest product, a higher-risk, cash-out refinance at a time of economic uncertainty. Loan amounts, however, cannot exceed conforming limits. Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Equity 421

Equity Loans Mortgages Loan Officer 421

Housing Wire

MAY 13, 2025

Credit data in general doesnt look great when accounting for credit card debt, auto loans, and student loan debt all have had an increase in their percentage on 90-day lates. In contrast, the current state of housing credit appears to be much healthier when compared to credit cards, auto loans and student loan debt.

Bankruptcy 453

Bankruptcy Equity Loans Lending 453

Housing Wire

MARCH 5, 2025

The newest weekly mortgage applications survey data, released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) included the lowest mortgage rates in months, which created a stir in the number of applications. On-the-ground observations Loan officers say they’re seeing an increase in government loan demand.

Loan Officer 257

Loan Officer Loans VA loan FHA loan 257

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Although no person can truly predict mortgage rates for there are several factors involved; Industry forecasts predict interest rates will hover between 5.5% Heres your game plan: Check your credit: A score of 640 opens the door to FHA loans and down payment assistance programs. A Mortgage Agency. Around 7.5%.

Mortgages 370

Mortgages FHA loan Closing costs Staging 370