Aged Asset, Servicing, Compliance, Non-Agency Products; Employment Data and Rates

If you see me talking to myself, just move along. I’m self-employed, and we’re having a staff meeting. Self-employed borrowers are certainly a target of non-QM lenders around the nation. Non-bank lenders continue to grapple with 2nd mortgage program availability and the HELOC edge that some portfolio lenders have, everyone is watching the housing market. And even traditional depository lenders are trying to adapt… like this headline about Wells Fargo possibly scaling back its mortgage business. (No, I don’t have a subscription.) All real estate is local, of course, but the rate of appreciation we’ve seen is unsustainable. “For sale” listings are up; eBuyers are on the run. The FHFA, whose numbers are used for conforming loan limits, tells us that U.S. house prices rose 18.7 percent over the last year, and up 4.6 percent from the fourth quarter. Certainly, the increase in mortgage rates have had an impact and changed buyer behavior. Last month 30-year mortgage rates rose to their highest level since 2009. Mortgage purchase applications have fallen to their lowest level since 2018. The inventory of unsold single-family homes, while still far below pre-pandemic levels, is now rising on a year-over-year basis. (Today’s podcast is available here and this week’s is sponsored by Change Wholesale with its proprietary Community Mortgage program. There are no bank statements, employment, or DTI requirements, allowing brokers to deliver more prime loans to more credit-worthy borrowers like small business owners, gig workers, retirees, and anyone else searching for home financing.)