What some people might call “hard-core economics” – closing costs and interest rates – along with a lender’s reputation for excellent customer service, play a decisive role in most consumers’ choice of a mortgage lender, according to a new survey from Ally Bank. “Four in five Americans (81 percent) who ever had a mortgage or plan to apply for one in the future said the total amount of closing costs did/would factor into their lender decision,” the bank said in announcing the results ...
A typical first-time homebuyer pays significantly more than a repeat homebuyer does for the same house, according to research by economists at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. They suggested that appraisers could help reduce home prices for first-time homebuyers, though the proposal faces a number of obstacles. The FHFA analysis was based on appraisal information associated with loan applications submitted to the government-sponsored enterprises from the ...
A disproportionate share of the premiums collected under the FHA’s current pricing scheme are paid by non-defaulters even though higher premiums are targeted for higher-risk borrowers, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The study contends that FHA’s policy of allowing borrowers to refinance their upfront mortgage insurance premium “reduces the total cost of borrowing during the first year, but results in non-defaulters paying ...
California remained the mother lode of mortgage insurance business in the first quarter of 2017, but a number of other major states had higher concentrations of insured business, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Some $12.50 billion of agency mortgages securitized during the first quarter with some form of primary MI were tied to Golden State properties, representing 58.9 percent of California’s total agency purchase-mortgage ... [Includes one data chart]
Two of the most active lenders in the “fix & flip” market – Finance of America Commercial and CALCAP – are coming off record years and are expanding their efforts by launching brokerage initiatives that could increase their volumes even more. “Why now?” asked Mark Filler, CEO of Finance of America Commercial. “We’re at the point where we have better pricing, better products and the market is strong.” In 2016, FOAC – known as Jordan Capital when it was acquired by nonbank mortgage giant Finance of America a few months ago – originated...
The trade group first launched its GSE task force in late 2012 with 17 initial executive members, including Bob Ryan, a Wells Fargo executive who is now the acting deputy director of the division of conservatorship at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
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