Between the recent rate hike from the Federal Reserve, the ongoing war in Ukraine and continued economic recovery following the pandemic, mortgage lenders across the country are managing a volatile housing market. Here's what you need to know:
Greetings from wintry Chicago where mortgage rates, as they are across the nation, are back to May 2019 levels. Did you know that the name "Chicago" comes from either a Native American word for wild onion, or a striped skunk, depending on one’s mood. Here you don’t have to go too far for a wiener: There are more than 2,000 hot dog stands in the city of Chicago, more than the number of Burger Kings, McDonald's, and Wendy's restaurants in the city combined. Downtown Chicago has 160 million square feet of office space… What will become of it? The managers at lenders and vendors around our biz continue to make decisions about where their staffs work. While most financial institutions are pursuing a return to office work, government agencies including the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are maintaining remote work, with the Securities and Exchange Commission setting June 6 as a provisional return date.