Hedging, eHELOC, Digital Lending, Buydown Products; Webinars and Training; Rates Head Higher

Here at the Wisconsin MBA conference in The Dells, a portion of the talk is about buydowns and adjustable-rate programs. Certainly, they are legitimate tools that loan officers can offer to potential clients, although with the current yield on the US 2-year near 4.70 percent and the 10-year near 4.20 percent, the attractiveness of ARMs is questionable. A study done last week by Tom LaMalfa during the recent MBA annual conference gives us an idea of how much of each lender’s volume consisted of ARMs production, how important buydowns were this year, and are there enough ARM investors in the market today. “ARM production accounted for a median of 7%, with a mean of 14%, a mode of 6%, and a range of zero to 70%. As for buydowns, the mean was pushing 5%, the median was 4%… Concerning the number of ARM investors, only 5 lenders said there was enough, compared to 24 who thought there were too few.” With the Federal Open Market Committee bringing the overnight rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the difference between fixed and adjustable rates is in flux. (Today’s podcast is available here and this week’s Sponsored by Candor Technology. Home of the One Touch Underwrite, supporting lenders from Point of Sale to Post Close QC, to reduce repurchase risk, increase underwriter productivity by 400 percent, and decrease turn-times by 10. Today’s has an Interview with Craig Crabtree, SVP & GM of Equifax Mortgage/Housing, on how Equifax interacts with the mortgage industry on more levels than you think.)