The first quarter hasn’t exactly been a barn-burner for MSR sales and the recent bank liquidity crisis hasn’t helped. However, some buyers might take advantage of the fears of others.
Rates are headed lower, at least for now, causing sellers of MSRs to pause. However, “whole” company deals could pick up a head of steam. One hungry buyer: Guild Mortgage of San Diego.
The move signals an aggressive effort by federal regulators to rein in consolidation in the mortgage tech industry. ICE said it is prepared to fight the FTC over the Black Knight deal.
Homebridge Financial has agreed to sell most of its MSRs and its entire retail network to California-based CMG. Homebridge insists it’s not going away and is working on other transactions.
The sale of mortgage company “assets” are increasing while “franchise” deals remain few and far between. What lies ahead? In a few quarters we may see larger shops merge, one consultant predicted.
The MSR sales market is starting to firm up a bit — and just in time. A handful of large packages are available, including two from Wells Fargo and one from a large nonbank. But will these deals get done?
Commercial banks continue to look sideways at the residential lending business, wondering why they should be in it at all. Some are getting out while others are scaling back significantly.
Wells Fargo is no longer in love with the mortgage business. We all know that, but is the bank contemplating large-scale sales of its massive MSR portfolio? Not likely.
It’s a safe bet that further job cuts are in the cards for most mortgage franchises. But is the worst of the personnel bloodletting over? That’s hard to say. The optimists out there are hoping for a stronger second half.
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