HomeBridge to Buy Prospect - Impact on Non-Bank Lender Rankings; FHA Lender Changes
It's a global mortgage market, and this news tidbit caught my eye - reminding us that "a rising tide floats all boats." Virgin Money's Q3 IMS shows continuing growth momentum with gross mortgage lending up 19% y/y in 2016 with £1.3bn of net mortgage lending in Q3'16, well above expectations.
Heading back to this country, the long awaited and rumored sale of Prospect Mortgage happened. HomeBridge Financial Services, Inc., a national independent mortgage lender, announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which HomeBridge will purchase the operating assets of Prospect Mortgage, LLC from Prospect Holding Company, LLC. The asset purchase consists primarily of the loan production platform. When this goes through HomeBridge will become one of the largest non-bank mortgage lenders in the country, originating loans nationwide with approximately 900 retail mortgage loan originators in nearly 250 branches. HomeBridge will continue to operate its two wholesale divisions, ultimately employing more than 3,000 full time associates across the enterprise. The asset purchase is expected to close in January 2017.
HomeBridge should become the sixth largest non-bank mortgage lender for overall production. In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development listed Prospect and HomeBridge first and second, respectively, in its year-end 203(k) endorsement summary report.
HomeBridge will become the nation's largest renovation lender, with more than double the production of the nearest competitor. To the victors go the spoils: HomeBridge CEO Peter Norden, President Joel Katz and Chief Operating Officer Joe Sheridan will continue to lead the business. Mike Williams, Prospect's Chairman and CEO and the former President and CEO of Fannie Mae, will remain with HomeBridge in an advisory role for the immediate future. Doug Long, Prospect's President of National Lending, will take an EVP role with HomeBridge and manage existing Prospect branch operations that are moving to HomeBridge.
While we're talking numbers, people like lists. Inside Mortgage Finance put together one, which I am sure has its critics in terms of the accuracy of the data. But it gives us a feel for the relative residential rankings for the first half of 2016. Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future... etc., etc. But this certainly illustrates the move by non-depository lenders. Here you go:
#1 Wells Fargo & Company ($58.3 billion), #2 Quicken Loans Inc. ($42.1 billion), #3 Bank of America Home Loans ($28.9 billion), #4 Chase ($25.5), #5 PHH Mortgage ($17.2), #6 loanDepot.com ($13.7), #7 Citi ($11.4), #8 Guaranteed Rate Inc. ($10), #9 Freedom Mortgage Corp. ($9.8 billion), #10 U.S. Bank Home Mortgage ($8), #11 PrimeLending ($7), #12 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. ($6.9 billion), #13 Guild Mortgage Co. ($6.3), #14 Caliber Home Loans ($6.3), #15 USAA Federal Savings Bank, #16 Nationstar Mortgage, #17 Navy Federal Credit Union, #18 SunTrust Mortgage Inc., #19 Movement Mortgage, and #20 First Republic Bank.
Traditional banks continue to cede mortgage market share to non-bank players. The Wall Street Journal notes that bank mortgage market share dropped below 50% in Q3. And for some reason media outlet CNBC is calling every non-bank lender a "shadow bank." No wonder it is hard for our industry to escape the uphill battle in public relations.
Despite the mounting list of DOJ and HUD legal actions and fines against lenders, plenty of companies continue to offer FHA loans. Let's check in with recent FHA news & idle chatter.
There is plenty of talk about FHA pricing changes. Here in November, following the FHA actuarial report, which is expected in mid-November, we will enter a lull in the private mortgage insurance policy conversation. In terms of the FHA, industry analysts maintain a 60% probability of another 30-basis point cut to the annual premium and still view a change to cancel ability as unlikely. But if the actuarial report is underwhelming, and the FHA holds premiums at current levels, people will still have expectations of a premium cut into 2017.
FHA published Mortgagee Letter 2016-16, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program: Source for 10-Year LIBOR Swap Rate, which: Changes the source for the 10-Year London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) swap rate from the Federal Reserve Board's Selected Interest Rate Statistical Release (H.15) publication to the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Benchmark Administration; and The 10-Year LIBOR swap rate is used to calculate the expected interest rate on LIBOR-indexed Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). The Federal Reserve Board will cease publication of the 10-Year LIBOR swap rate on October 31, 2016.
Many of the updates to the FHA handbook incorporate FHA's Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) guides announced in Mortgagee Letter 2016-11. Flagstar will not approve, fund or purchase any FHA or VA loan where the property is or will be subject to PACE financing.
Per HUD's Mortgagee letter 2016-10, SunWest posted some important excerpts which announced further changes related to the HECM Financial Assessment and Property Charge Set Asides guidance. These changes will be effective for case numbers assigned on or after October 03rd 2016. Examples include the loan must be suspended until borrower resolves delinquent federal tax debt with IRS; delinquent federal non-tax debt with creditor agency. If hazard insurance and flood insurance (if applicable) were not in place for principal residence for the previous 12 months, these must be prepaid for a period of 12 months at or before closing. Documentation for continuance of federal pension income is not required. If the residual income is between 80 to 99% of the required residual income, compensating factors can be used.
For Standard 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgages, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires the use of a HUD-approved 203(k) Consultant. Sun West is reminding its clients that The HUD Consultant must be selected from an approved list that has also been reviewed by Sun West prior to ordering any Consultant services or making any agreements with the Consultant or the borrower.
Turning to rates, they went down a little Monday. The reason? There wasn't much of anything. Blame it on mediocre company earnings, narrowing presidential polls, rising oil prices,
U.S. economic data releases that were slightly negative, weaker construction spending, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model reducing its forecast for Q4 GDP... Agency MBS prices finished a shade better/higher, although the 10-year price improved by .125 closing with a yield of 1.82%.
This morning we've already had the MBA giving us its survey of retail residential applications last week: -1.2%, refis fell 2% but are still 23% above last year. We've also had the October ADP Employment Change (+147k, lower than expected, but September was revised higher). Later today will be the FOMC announcement at 2PM ET/11AM PT - no one is expecting any change in its stance on rats, uh, rates. This morning we find the 10-year yielding 1.80% with agency MBS prices better by .125 versus Tuesday's close.
Events
Annie Mac Home Mortgage continues to expand and is pleased to announce its continued growth and expansion in the TPO/Non-Delegated Space with the opening of its new production facility in Phoenix AZ. To celebrate this expansion, management will be holding an open house on November 3 (tomorrow!) from 4-6pm. Please RSVP to Richard Lamoree (602-362-3872).
Carrington's Retail Branch Network is conducting a Career Webinar at 11AM PST on Thursday, Nov 3rd. To learn more about the opportunities including products, compensation, etc., RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/bWC5ykm.
Remember, the only thing better than a closed loan is a free party! National Mortgage Professional Magazine and Mortgage News Network are returning with their successful Holiday Networking Parties and on Tuesday, December 6, they celebrate in Irvine, CA, and on Thursday, December 8 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. They end the tour on Thursday, December 15 in their hometown - Long Island, NY. The events start with complimentary business building workshops for mortgage professionals and end with a networking party with holiday music, food and prizes. Each party is limited to 12 exhibiting sponsors and current sponsors include Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, Carrington Mortgage Services, Flagstar Bank, HomeBridge Wholesale, Quicken Loans Mortgage Services, PRMG and REMN Wholesale. Click here to secure one of the few remaining sponsorships today. Registration is free to anyone with an NMLS number. To register visitNMPHoliday.com.
Carrington Mortgage Services, noted a few paragraphs above, is "making it easier than ever for brokers to help move their loans along with Taxdoor, a fully automated solution that makes ordering tax transcripts as easy as ordering a credit report, providing a simple, one-click solution for ordering verified income data via IRS tax transcripts. Brokers will Simply place a transcript order electronically and their applicant receives a text message or email which allows him or her to verify addresses and digitally approve the release of their tax information using their smartphones. The order is instantly routed to the IRS and your tax transcripts and accurate 4506Ts are returned. Brokers can contact their Carrington Account Executives to get signed up and/or attend Carrington's upcoming informative webinar presented by Taxdoor on November 9th, 11am PST.
Do you have new hires or other employees who need to complete development goals by the end of the year? There is one more Fannie Mae HFI Investor Reporting-related session left in 2016. Fannie Mae's Housing Finance Institute series, HFI InDepth, offers training in custodial accounting and reconciling actual/actual loans. If you're involved with investor reporting for your company, register for the last HFI InDepth class for 2016: The ABCs of Managing MBS Cash Flow for Fannie Mae.
Jobs and Announcements
Northpointe Bank is recognized as one of the top performing banks in the country and is looking for a qualified COO to join its senior leadership team. Primarily focused on mortgage lending, Northpointe is a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae approved lender and the candidate must have extensive experience with the intricacies of the GSEs and government agencies. Also, the candidate should have a strong commercial banking background with a thorough understanding of risk management and compliance. If interested, please forward a confidential resume to Sheri DuChemin, VP Human Resources, 616-974-8490.
After experiencing a nearly 30% year-over-year increase in growth for the first three quarters of 2016-most of which occurred in the Western U.S.- Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC is excited to announce a focus on retail growth in the Midwest and Eastern states. Glenn Hodge, a long-time industry veteran has joined the company as Regional Manager to assist with this expansion. "Glenn's strong track record for promoting and facilitating growth will help Castle & Cooke Mortgage achieve its goals for 2017, which includes the addition of multiple new branches, 25 loan originators in the Eastern U.S., and contributing to a $250 million increase in the company's 2017 annual run rate. Castle & Cooke Mortgage is committed to providing loan originators with a professional, seamless transition with virtually no down time. If you are interested in taking your business to the next level with a growing company that puts its employees first, contact Glenn Hodgeat (513) 708-4501."
Congratulations to technology executive Tony Pietrocola. Take 3 Technologies (Take3) announced that he has been named President of Take3, responsible for "leading the innovative fintech company and executing the strategic vision of Take3's business and SaaS software solutions. Take3's cloud-based software solutions transform how mortgage bankers, brokers, banks, and credit unions use data and technology to work with their borrowers." (Take3 has two technologies: LoanMaps, a next generation cloud-based Loan Origination Software (LOS) and The Rule Tool, an on-demand agency guideline and investor overlay application that helps lenders write more compliant and saleable loans.)