What can keep interest rates low in the United States? A slow economy. What can cause higher rates? Inflation. To no one’s surprise, U.S. tariffs have increased prices on raw materials and other costs for domestic manufacturers, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Many manufacturers say they plan to pass increases on to clients, which could apply upward pressure to inflation, while a New York Fed blog post says tariffs will cause "little or no improvement in the trade deficit." (And for you aging LOs looking forward to tootling around on your electric bikes, well, bad tariff news there too.)

 

Conventional Conforming News

As of August 17th, ResMac B2B will no longer accept new agency Conforming, Jumbo, FHA, VA and USDA loan applications from its Wholesale and ND Correspondent partners but will continue to continue to lock loans that were previously submitted until September 30th, 2018.

Plaza’s Conforming Fixed and Conforming ARM program guidelines have been updated. They now allow for cash-out refinances up to 85% on Freddie Mac LPA submissions.

The Fannie Mae Servicing Guide was updated with Announcement SVC-2018-05 which include the MI Factor, policy clarification on inspecting and preserving properties impacted by a disaster, an increase of the maximum reimbursement limit for insured loss repair inspections from $30 to $60 and other miscellaneous updates.

Click here to view PRMG product profile updates 18-44. It announced the release of Freddie/FHLMC’s HomeOne option under its Agency Fixed and Agency LP Fixed and ARM product codes and allows LTVs up to 97% with no income restrictions.

Four of Plaza’s programs (Conforming FixedConforming ARMSuper Conforming Fixed and Super Conforming ARM) have updated guidelines which allow the exclusion of deferred student loan payments from the DTI calculation for borrowers who are in, or who have recently completed, a medical residency program and/or medical clinical fellowship program.

Wells Fargo Funding has expanded its age of documents policy for conventional Conforming Loans to allow documents up to 180 days old on Loans secured by properties located in designated disaster areas. There is no change to the age of documents requirements for Non-Conforming Loans; the maximum age of documents remains 120 days.

Gotta love those folks at that National Association of Realtors. Is its financial well-being at stake if the industry reverts to NINA loans? NAR released a statement calling on the FHFA to reduce the g-fees and LLPAs charged by the GSEs that are passed along to borrowers. NAR’s statement urged the FHFA to “act quickly and reduce g-fees and LLPAs, as continued high fees only reduce access to mortgage credit and raise the costs of homeownership at a time when home prices and mortgage rates are also rising.” NAR isn’t the holder of securities, nor, one can argue, can it really determine or assess an Agency’s risk.

Urban Releases New Paper on GSE Reform Through Administrative Action. Given the number of days on left to accomplish legislative goals before the 2018 mid-term elections, several stakeholders and other interested parties focused on housing finance reform are speaking more openly about what GSE reform might look like should the Trump Administration take up the work itself. In a white paper released this week, Jim Parrott and Mark Zandi detail what actions the Trump Administration might take to reform the two GSEs. In their paper, Parrott and Zandi contemplate what tactics the Administration might use to meet their stated objective of reducing the government’s footprint in the housing finance system, including reducing cross subsidies, either increasing risk-based pricing at the GSEs or increasing LLPAs, or adjusting loan limits among other possible actions.  


Capital Markets

While we’re talking about conforming conventional news, the Agencies continue to issue securities – the secondary market is alive and well. In mid-July Fannie Mae priced $717.8 Million Multifamily DUS REMIC (FNA 2018-M10) under its GeMS Program, its seventh Multifamily DUS REMIC in 2018. The deal builds on the $25.8 billion in DUS issuance in the first half of 2018. The 10-year, fixed-rate collateral MBS pool is from five different types of properties in 17 states, with a weighted average debt-service coverage ratio of 1.56 and a weighted average loan-to-value ratio of 64 percent. The deal was split into $89 million at an offered price of 100.8 and the remaining $628 million at a price of 99.5.

Over to bonds… why are rates going down? (In case you didn’t notice, the U.S. 10-yr yield hit a six-week low and its lowest close since the end of May.) President Trump complained to Republican donors at a fundraiser about the Federal Reserve's rate hikes. Isn’t the Fed independent? ThomsonReuters reported that, “global risk markets were mostly higher on optimism that low level trade talks scheduled this week between the US and China will be planting seeds that will bloom to a resolution by November when Presidents Trump and Xi meet. Supporting the treasury bid, meanwhile, were ongoing concerns on rising tensions between the US and Turkey…”

In other words, no one really knows why the 10-year closed at 2.82%, but its bouncing back up this morning. Perhaps the U.S. economy is not doing as well as people think or won’t be doing that well in 2019. Regardless, today the only thing on tap for scheduled news is the Philly Fed Non-Manufacturing Survey for August – hardly a market-mover. We start Tuesday with the 10-year yielding and agency MBS prices versus Monday’s close.


Lender Products and Services

New Penn Financial recently welcomed industry veterans Lisa Schreiber, SVP, and Diane Keane, VP to lead their National Correspondent Division with an emphasis on expanding the company’s Non-QM footprint. New Penn Financial’s Non-QM SMART Series suite offers four distinct products geared toward the needs of specific borrowers including those who are investors, self-employed and borrowers requiring solutions to non-traditional loan scenarios. Lisa and Diane will work with national lenders and look forward to bringing them new options for high-quality borrowers that other lenders may be overlooking. Celebrating its 10th year in business, New Penn Financial is a member of the Shellpoint Partners LLC family of companies and now part of New Residential Investment Corp. To learn more about the Non-QM product suite, contact Lisa Schreiber.

How can you say the words "Digital Mortgage" if your POS still requires human intelligence or can result in human error? PerfectLO, the leading POS in the Fin-tech space, has designed a Perfect Loan Application built with intelligence that "digs" in and asks all the questions that ‘live’ inside and outside the "1003." We all know that a completed "1003" is quite useless even when completed. The real pain in your operation begins and ends with an accurate 1003 and all supporting docs.  PerfectLO creates a "spot on" doc checklist and offers a secure upload. A customizable milestone sms notification portal to keep your borrowers and agents updated throughout the process. Sign up for a free trial and demo.  PerfectLO’s online questionnaire takes a non- intimidating, logical and systematic approach. Easy to adopt and onboard. PerfectLO works in every language and talks to all LOS’s.

Mortech® the mortgage technology business Zillow® Group acquired back in 2012, recently rolled out a new customer retention platform. The solution leverages property data on Zillow’s websites and mobile apps, which average more than 175 million unique users per month (according to Google) and capture more than 2/3rds of the U.S. market share of real estate internet traffic (according to comScore). Using a proprietary prediction model, the platform periodically identifies the likelihood that addresses within a lender’s database will be listed for sale within 90 days. Mortech estimates that out of a database of 100,000 properties, it might identify on average up to 500 properties as highly likely to be listed for sale within 90 days. These predictions provide lenders the advantage of proactively reaching out to targeted customers at an opportune time with relevant messaging.  For more information – contact Mortech Sales via email (1-855-298-9327).

XINNIX is pleased to present a must-have resource for these challenging times, The Ultimate Loan Production Playbook! The impact that rising interest rates, shrinking inventory, and compressed margins have had on the mortgage industry in the past year is undeniable. The Ultimate Loan Production Playbook shares some of XINNIX’s powerfully proven steps that help drive production in any market and elevate success exponentially. From individual loan officers to executive leaders, XINNIX wants to serve you by offering this tool that will you started on the path to increasing production now. CLICK HERE to get your complimentary copy. And if you’re interested in being part of this dynamic team that leads mortgage professionals in every stage of their career to incredible success, CLICK HERE. XINNIX has open positions in the Midwest, Southeast, and Texas. 

 

Employment

ClearEdge Lending, a new direct wholesale lender of non-QM loans, is actively recruiting account executives, operations, and credit staff to its Orange County location. The lender is entering the non-QM mortgage space with an array of industry leading, simplified and competitively priced loan products aimed at helping mortgage brokers build and scale their non-QM volumes. "With agency originations and margins declining, mortgage brokers are looking for new avenues of business," says ClearEdge CEO Steve Skolnik. "Backed by our local full-service branch business model and end-investor driven capital, ClearEdge's easy-to-follow and competitively priced loan programs are an excellent way for brokers to expand into non-QM lending." The company has a solid foundation built on substantial investment capital. It has originated over $1 billion in non-QM loans since 2015 and has completed four non-QM securitizations over the past two years. Those interested in a growth-oriented career with ClearEdge Lending should email Matt Shaw for sales positions and Kelly Blackburn for operations and credit.

Sierra Pacific Mortgage is pleased to announce that Mike Cass has joined the company as a Regional Manager. Based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mr. Cass will oversee the company’s retail sales teams in the northern, midwestern states. Mike has been in the mortgage industry since 1987 and has held varying roles throughout the Midwest.  Most recently, he served as the President of Results Mortgage. To Sierra Pacific Mortgage, Mike brings industry knowledge, experience, and the regional network to help Sierra Pacific Mortgage further expand their presence. “I joined Sierra Pacific Mortgage because they are best positioned for the years ahead and have a track record of consistent leadership for the last 33 years. Their tagline ‘Promises Made. Promises Kept.’ says it all.” said Mike.

Is it time for you to spread your wings a bit? Now is your opportunity to better yourself professionally and personally by becoming a producing branch manager in your market for Assurance Financial.  Make more money with the same amount of effort and enjoy a truly supportive and committed mortgage origination environment. We’ve recently opened 4 new branches, and we’re more committed than ever to see our company grow with great people and an expanding suite of make-sense product offerings that will help you build relationships with Realtors, builders, and borrowers. Come fly with the Home Loan Experts. Call Paul Peters, CMB at 225.239.7948 or email ppeters@lendtheway.com. Assurance Financial is a growing full-service independent mortgage banker seeking dynamic producing branch managers and MLO teams throughout the South, Southeast, Southwest, East, and Midwest, U.S.

Congratulations are due as Eagle Home Mortgage, a financial services subsidiary of Lennar Corporation, announced that Laura Escobar, previously EVP of Eagle Home Mortgage, is Eagle’s new president. (She’s taking the place of Jimmy Timmons, who in June announced his retirement after 13 years at the helm.) “Ms. Escobar is a 33-year mortgage industry veteran and joined Eagle in 2002. She assumed the role of EVP in 2016, in which she led all business operations for the company’s builder channel. Prior to this role, she served as SVP/Regional Manager, VP/Regional Manager and a Branch Manager.”