A mini-price war from UWM and it’s not even March. As one warehouse veteran put it: “It’s a little like the old Rockefeller tactic of pricing out the competition. It seems to work, but at a cost.”
Servicing sales are off to a strong start in the new year, especially now with Federal Reserve interest rate cuts hardly a sure thing. Another factor is a fresh round of available capital from investors.
What goes down must go up again? That seems to be the story of the fourth quarter’s revival in agency MBS values. Declining mortgage rates gave agency securities holders a shot in the arm.
Mortgage REIT Two Harbors hopes to save a ton of money by servicing its $215 billion-plus MSR portfolio in house. It also wants to be a major player in the subservicing arena and is building an origination platform to protect against a refi wave.
Not every mortgage company can issue unsecured notes at a decent price, but a handful of larger shops can, especially if they own a ton of servicing rights.