Plenty of potential homebuyers have prequalified with HomeStreet Bank for mortgages this year but the bank has significantly cut its mortgage staff because originations have been below expectations. The bank focuses on markets on the West Coast and officials said purchase-mortgage originations have been constrained by a low supply of homes for sale. “The strong West Coast economies and local markets in which we operate are continuing to produce above-average job and population growth ...
There’s room for improvement in loan origination system offerings, according to a survey of 250 lenders by Strategic Mortgage Finance Group. The consulting group recently released details from its 2016 survey on lenders’ LOS. Lead generation/management was by far the lowest rated functionality within various systems. Only 4.0 percent of survey participants said the lead generation/management offered by their LOS was highly effective. “With the market shift to more purchase business, the lack ...
Thanks to a comeback in private-money lending and a boom in the “fix-and-flip” sector, FCI Lender Services has seen its servicing portfolio double the past two years to roughly $7 billion. By 2019, it expects to be servicing upwards of $10 billion. At least that’s the forecast from Gordon Albrecht, senior director in charge of marketing and strategies for the Anaheim, CA-based nonbank. “Business is accelerating across the board,” said Albrecht. The only sector that’s not expected to show ...
Accenture, a global professional services company, is re-imagining Software-as-a-Service to give mortgage lenders an advantage in migrating to a digital lending environment. In a new white paper, the firm begins by noting that mortgage lenders are moving as quickly as possible these days toward the digital mortgage. “While each lender defines this product slightly differently, the consumer sees it as an overdue evolution in home finance,” said Accenture. “There are many advantages for ...
Industry activity to promote the digitalization of the mortgage process seems to be accelerating of late. This week, ServiceLink, a provider of transaction services to the mortgage industry, and Roostify, a provider of automated lending technology, announced a partnership they said will extend the digital experience for lenders and consumers alike. Chris Azur, CEO of ServiceLink, said the pairing will improve the overall consumer and lender mortgage experience through enhanced ...
Mortgage lenders haven’t yet experienced any operating headaches from the Equifax data breach this summer – but the ramifications might come slowly and not be immediately discernable. One nonbank CEO told Inside Mortgage Finance that he’s angry about the breach for two rea-sons: his personal information was stolen and it could cause business problems because warehouse banks, state licensing agencies, investors and housing authorities pull Equifax reports to check on him ...
Since early July, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have seen the share price of their common stock rise roughly 35 percent on the over-the-counter market, turning these two government wards into some of the best short-term investments among all equities. Then again, there appears to be no real reason for the run-up in trading price, though observers speculate that a Republican National Committee resolution issued earlier in the year regarding the two might have something to do with it ...
A proposal last week from federal regulators to reduce capital requirements on mortgage servicing rights for all but the largest banks was met with mostly praise from banks. “The proposal to review and refine capital rules for community banks is a step in the right direction that acknowledges what our members already know,” said Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association. “Some of the current capital requirements are keeping banks from fully serving their ...
RSS