DSCR, Digital Point of Sale, AVM, Branding, Processing Tools, Events and Training

Is anyone else seeing those sensational, “yellow journalistic” headlines saying that real estate is plummeting? Think again. The American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) latest housing market analysis echoes what NAR’s numbers show, Case-Shiller’s numbers show, and the FHFA’s numbers show: A notable 6.5 percent national annual appreciation rate, despite the backdrop of high mortgage rates. The Sun Belt states, like Florida and Texas, lead in home price gains. I’ll admit that it is hard to know what to believe, because yesterday we learned that the NAHB Housing Market Index fell again in July to the lowest level since last December. I have also heard that the combination of elevated mortgage rates and high home prices has pushed house builders to lower prices. That latest NAHB survey revealed that 31 percent of builders cut home prices to bolster sales in July, higher than June's 29 percent. The nation needs more houses built, but there isn’t much incentive for builders to build them, and many borrowers are waiting for lower interest rates before purchasing. Fortunately, the overall housing market is much stronger than in 2008, given the tremendous equity that is out there. (Today’s podcast is found here and is sponsored by Calque. Calque provides a binding backup offer on a borrower’s departing residence, which empowers lenders to provide a bridge-like experience with easier qualification and less risk. Today's episode features an interview with Barry Sturner and Richard Horn on the CFPB v. Townstone case.)

Lender and Broker Software, Services, and Products

Ready to transform your financial strategy? Listen to what long-time CWDL client A and N Mortgage Services has to say. “Are you tired of spending hours reconciling your books and ensuring compliance with ever-changing regulations? Listen up, it is me, Neena Vlamis, CEO of a 100 percent women-owned business. Look no further than CWDL, your trusted partner for outsourced accounting services! With CWDL, you can offload time-consuming accounting tasks and focus on growing your business. Its team of mortgage experts will keep your books up to date and in compliance, giving you peace of mind and allowing you to scale your business with ease. I highly recommend CWDL for their professionalism, efficiency, industry expertise, and attention to detail. Trust CWDL to take care of your accounting needs so you can focus on what you do best: running your business. Contact me if you want to have a confidential conversation about this process!” Or reach out to Kasey English to learn more!

“Tired of playing shuffle with your business? At wemlo®, we know variety isn’t always the spice of life, especially when it comes to providing an outstanding borrower experience. You work hard to consistently deliver a positive lending experience, helping generate word-of-mouth business. We want to help earn you more referral business too. That’s why transparent communication and customer care are some of wemlo’s top priorities. Our processors work directly with the borrower and lender to seamlessly track everything down, so you don’t get bogged down with admin tasks. Trust us, we’re in the business of keeping customers happy: just look at our 4.6/5*-star rating from borrowers. Ready to work with third-party processors that keep consistency at the heart of every borrower transaction? Learn more about wemll processors today. NMLS ID 1853218. *2023 Borrower Score: 229 responses 4.6/5.0.

It's not easy to differentiate your brand in title insurance. It's not easy to differentiate your brand in the non-QM or private lending market. It's not easy to rise above the commoditization that has happened in our industry. This requires a proactive and personalized approach that drives a reason for your clients to work with you. With Privy’s unique approach to branding and customer engagement, your sales team is always a click of a button away. Leveraging Privy’s embedded Calls to Action in our patented real estate investing platform allows borrowers to directly connect with lenders and service providers at the crucial decision-making moment, ensuring you remain the immediate choice when it’s time to transact. This seamless integration into the transaction process enhances customer loyalty and brand exposure. The future of best-practice lending is involvement on the front end of every borrower transaction. Be part of the future with Privy. Contact Brad Bieber to learn more about Privy’s Lender Enterprise Solutions.

Introducing a first-of-its-kind, advanced hybrid commercial AVM from Service 1st, a Covius solution. This new AVM combines the property and comparable research from Service 1st’s panel of skilled commercial appraisers with an advanced market-derived algorithm developed by Vueterix to simulate the findings of a traditional commercial real estate appraisal. The AVM can be used for all types of commercial properties, including office buildings, hotels, multifamily housing and even industrial projects. With the combination of affordability and accuracy, buyers and their representatives can “test drive” deal values without investing in a full appraisal. Click here to learn more.

“Lenderful Solutions continues to make positive and impactful waves in the digital lending industry with our fully white-labeled and customizable Point-of-Sale solutions. Our focus is to offer lenders and their borrowers an efficient, effective, and quantifiable experience. Our Mortgage with the PreQual Express solution continues to lead the industry with proven success in generating more loans. We are also particularly excited about the ongoing success of our Home Equity Turbo solution. This innovative solution is making a measurable difference, as evidenced by Farmers Bank of KC and Riverside Bank of Dublin, reaping the benefits of processing and closing loans in just five days. Additionally, we are proud to introduce the FIRST Point-of-Sale solution specific for Reverse Mortgages. Lenderful Solutions, a division of MIS Title and Settlement, remains committed to evolving and enhancing the lending experience with our cutting-edge, customer-focused technology. ‘Digitizing the Process so Lenders can Humanize the Experience.’”

“At eRESI© Mortgage LLC, we've spent many years building a seller-friendly, fully integrated system and team. Come experience our best-in-class platform that gives Sellers the flexibility, efficiencies, and momentum to manage their business and succeed. Why do our Sellers choose to continue to work with eRESI? 1) Experience: We’ve been buying loans since 2019 and have a dedicated team of seasoned professionals; 2) Variety: We provide a full suite of products, including DSCR, Full Doc, Alt Doc, Closed-End Seconds, and Agency-eligible NOO; 3) Consistency: Tap into long-term capital that provides competitive pricing and consistent liquidity. Still not doing business with us? Find out why eRESI is your ideal Non-QM partner. Email sales@eresimortgage.com or contact your eRESI Representative.

Want to recruit more loan officers? Show them how they can send closing cost summaries from their phone on the golf course using QuickQual by LenderLogix. You can’t attract top-notch loan officers without top-notch technology. LenderLogix has you covered.

Giraffes can run within hours of birth. This adaptation, which helps giraffes survive their seasonal migration across the savanna, is made possible by a 15-month gestation period that gives calves time to develop their long legs. If your mortgage pricing engine hasn’t fully migrated from Encompass’ old SDK integration system to Encompass Partner Connect, it’s got just 15 months left to find its legs. Check out this informative blog from LoanPASS to understand why EPC-readiness matters to mortgage lenders and their vendor partners.

Winning Agent Business: The lender’s guide to building a strong referral network [UPDATED for 2024]. The new rules mandated by the NAR settlement go into effect August 17th. That means agents are more incentivized than ever to show their clients value—and they’re actively looking to partner with top-tier lenders in their market. Want to take advantage and grow your referral business? Maxwell just updated its Winning Agent Business eBook with new tips straight from agents to help you better network to create a strong funnel of referral leads. Download your free copy to learn qualities agents value in their lending partners, networking dos and don'ts, ways to become a go-to lender, and more.

Industry Events

Looking for more in-depth commentary on weekly mortgage news? Register here for Wednesday’s 11AM PT "Mortgage Matters: The Weekly Roundup” presented by Lenders One.

Webinar: Mortgage QC Trends and Industry Insights! Don't miss the latest QC webinar presented by ACES Quality Management's President, Phillip McCall, and EVP, Nick Volpe on July 17th. In this highly anticipated webinar, these industry experts will cover an in-depth analysis of ACES’ recent Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a deep dive into mortgage quality control trend reporting and how it aligns with the current state of the industry, and industry insights and how to best navigate through the volatile financial landscape. Walk away with a better understanding of what’s to come and how you can best prepare for the future. Register for the webinar!

Register for the Plaza Home Mortgage Financial Planner's Guide to Reverse Mortgages on Wednesday, July 17th, 12:00 PM PT / 3:00 PM ET.

Join ACES EVP, Nick Volpe and ACES President, Phill McCall on July 17, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM PDT for a QC NOW webinar as they take a deeper dive into these analytics and how it aligns with the current state of the industry and how to best navigate through the volatile financial landscape.

Join NAMB and Freddie Mac on Wednesday, July 17, from 2pm - 3:30pm ET for Self Employed-The Basics, to get started learning about the self-employed borrower. This introductory session is designed to provide you with the information you need to complete your analysis and to enhance your processes for underwriting self-employed borrowers, with a focus on the sole proprietor.

Thursday July 18th will another episode of The Big Picture at 3PM ET… Rich Swerbinsky is interviewing the Stan Middleman from Freedom Mortgage. In general, Thursdays have The Big Picture at 3PM ET.

Friday the 19th will see an episode of The Mortgage Collaborative’s Rundown with Melissa Langdale covering current events in the mortgage market for 30 minutes starting at noon PT, 3PM ET!

Last Word, Fridays at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET, Fridays with Kevin Peranio, Brian Vieaux, and Christy Soukhamneut is your ultimate destination for incisive analysis and spirited discussions on the hottest topics affecting the mortgage sector each week. Hosted by industry veterans, the show delivers expert opinions, forecasts, and critical insights to keep you informed and ahead of the curve. Tune in for a comprehensive and engaging analysis of the week's most important mortgage industry news, providing viewers with the knowledge and insights they need to make informed decisions in a rapidly changing market.

Professionals across the real estate transaction may face changes to the ways they communicate and market their relationships with their partners. Join two national industry leaders, Florida Agency Network President Aaron Davis and Saul Ewing Partner Francis “Trip” Riley, Thursday, July 18th @ 2:00 p.m. ET as they discuss Sitzer-Burnett and its potential impacts on the industry. Will there be a surge in iBuyer and FSBO transactions? Will more partners form joint ventures?

Calling all residential appraisers: the Appraisal Institute's next free webinar is on Thursday, July 18, 9:00AM PDT. Join expert panelists, leaders from Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Housing Administration, and the Appraisal Institute, to explore the topic of the new set of uniform appraisal data fields.

Capital Markets

Consumer spending is the main driver of the economy, and we learned yesterday that the Retail Sales report for June beat expectations and included an upward revision to last month's reading. Retail sales were flat in June (when the figure was expected to decline 0.1 percent) following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent increase in May. A decline in auto sales and lower gas prices were the driving factors. Excluding autos and gasoline, retail sales rose 0.8 percent month-over-month, conveying some rather solid levels of discretionary spending on goods. Other economic releases yesterday included business inventories, which were up 0.5 percent in May, and import/export prices. Import prices were unchanged in June after decreasing a revised -0.2 percent in May. Export prices fell 0.5 percent in June after falling a revised 0.7 percent in May.

Because I know it’s on your mind, let’s talk about the Fed. A Fed rate cut may be warranted in the coming months, though not at its meeting in two weeks. Widespread investor sentiment is that the Federal Reserve is about to put away its inflation fighting tools and reopen the credit sluice gates in September, beginning another rate cut cycle. In his most recent remarks, Fed Chair Powell didn’t offer specific details on the timing and scope of rate cuts, but he did suggest that the recent softness observed in June CPI has inched the Fed closer to pivoting towards more accommodative policy. Pricing in longer dated contracts is now suggesting that three 25 basis point cuts for the year is the most likely scenario to play out, though I remain skeptical.

Today’s economic calendar kicked off with mortgage applications increasing 3.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey. We’ve also received strong June housing starts and building permits (1.353 million and 1.446 million, respectively) versus expectations of increases of 1.280 million and 1.400 million versus 1.277 million and 1.399 million previously. Later today brings industrial production and capacity utilization for June, a couple of Treasury auctions that will be headlined by $13 billion reopened 20-year bonds, remarks from several Fed speakers ahead of its blackout period next week, and the latest Beige Book of economic conditions is set for release this afternoon ahead of the July 30/31 FOMC meeting. The Fed’s Beige Book survey of economic contacts is expected to report flat to modestly lower economic activity, with cooler inflation pressures. The survey is also expected to show more labor market slack and a continued slowdown in wage growth to rates more typical of the pre-pandemic economy. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from yesterday and the 10-year yielding 4.18 percent after closing yesterday at 4.17 percent, its lowest level in four months.