The Buffalo Springfield sang, “There's something happening here… But what it is ain't exactly clear.” Those were historical times, and a reminder that things are always changing… In Whole Foods the other day I overheard a little girl speaking to another little girl (both in yoga pants) saying, “I’m vegan; I don’t eat candy from animal pinatas.” What the heck, that’s the focus now? For something a little more common sense, and relevant, the current blog on the STRATMOR website is, “The Secondary Market’s Focus.” Certainly the goals of the Federal Reserve will be a topic this Thursday at 2PM ET when the MBA’s fabled chief economist Mike Fratantoni and I whilst we talk shop for 2023 with Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach. Few stones left unturned! (Today’s podcast is sponsored by Appraisal Logistics, a full-service AMC licensed in all 50 states. AIM-Port’s robust integ
Our industry continues to be battered. Starwood Capital-backed Reverse Mortgage Funding and its parent company Reverse Mortgage Investment Trust have filed for bankruptcy. Inlanta Mortgage told the state of Wisconsin it plans to wind down its business. Switching gears, to celebrate the first day of December, spend 5 minutes taking one of my favorite quizzes, focused on figuring out where you’re from based on the words you use for certain common things. (What do you call the little bug that rolls up into a ball when you touch it? Sneakers versus tennis shoes? Y’all versus you guys?) It’s uncanny! What isn’t uncanny are the number of predictions we’ve heard about a recession, many dating from nearly a year ago. Recessions generally mean lower rates. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says that a "mild recession" is likely next year but that concerns about a more severe downturn appear to be abating, noting households have maintained st
For some reason, companies laying off large numbers of people (most recently Better, Freedom, Mr. Cooper) make headlines, whereas shouldn’t the unusual, like companies that aren’t laying off anyone or who are hiring, be more newsworthy? There are indeed companies that are not laying off anyone, and in fact are hiring to take advantage of slow times. There is other good news. Despite inflation, elevated mortgage rates, and slowing sales activity, severely limited housing inventory will prevent large home price drops for most of the country next year according to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in his 2023 outlook. “For most parts of the country, home prices are holding steady since available inventory is extremely low. Some places are experiencing price gains, while some places, most notably in California, are seeing prices pull back… Housing inventory is about a quarter of what it was in 2008, distressed property sales are almost non-existent, at just 2%, a
For me, the next ten days includes time in Chicago, the Wisconsin Dells, and Atlanta. It isn’t a scary agenda. At the ready for tonight’s Halloween fun? Polls seem to indicate that the most popular treat is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, followed by Reese’s Miniatures, Twix, Kit Kat, and Snickers. Regardless of treats being handed out at doorsteps, there are “ticks” in an unfortunate affordable housing situation that is an example of the difficulty of implementing housing programs. About 5,600 people live in the ski town of Vail, Colorado. But during the busy season thousands of people work there, and there aren’t enough nearby places to live for that workforce. Right now there’s an estimated deficit of 6,000 beds for the work force in the county, and in order to address that the ski resort Vail sought to build a project on-site to house 165 employees. The town’s existing population got upset, as many residents don’t wa
As the MBA’s conference in Nashville wraps up, lenders and vendors are in an interesting mindset. Optimists are saying, “There’s a lot of opportunity out there” and, “Rates will come back down and refis will give us some oomph.” The pessimists are saying, “Why do I care about multi-year Agency goals when I’ll be lucky to make it through the next two quarters. We’re just trying to cut costs fast enough, including LO comp, and outlast our competition.” Lenders everywhere are doing what they can now to make themselves more efficient, fearing rougher times ahead. Banks and credit unions are looking at cross-training skillsets: Prioritizing coverage and making sure to cross-train so people can play to their strengths. Analyzing what tasks they're doing, and the best people to do it. Workflow? Lenders are minimizing file touches, using a cheaper resource for parts of the file, and moving more duties from underwriti