Mortgage News
The latest real estate and mortgage industry news, digested. Look beyond the headlines to better understand what’s really happening.2019 Conforming Loan Limit Will Be $484,350 for Mortgages Backed by Fannie and Freddie
As expected, the conforming loan limit for 2019 has increased thanks to an ongoing rise in property values, according to a news bulletin released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) this morning. Beginning in 2019, the maximum loan amount ... Read More »
The Cash Out Refi Share Is Above 80%, But There’s a Catch
While it would appear that borrowers are using their homes as ATMs again, it’s a bit misleading. Yes, the share of home mortgage refinances that resulted in cash out rose above 80% in the third quarter, per Freddie Mac data, ... Read More »
Wells Fargo the Top Mortgage Lender in 2017, Quicken Tops for Number of Loans
Despite closing a higher number of mortgage loans last year, Quicken was unable to wrestle the coveted top spot away from Wells Fargo, per HMDA data parsed by iEmergent. During 2017, the under-fire San Francisco-based bank managed to fund $93 ... Read More »
See How Home Purchasing Power Is Eroding Thanks to Higher Rates and Prices
It’s no secret that residential real estate is expensive right now, at least relative to where it stood just a few short years ago. Home prices have moved higher and higher for about five straight years since bottoming out post-Great ... Read More »
Purchase Mortgages Expected to Increase Next Year Despite Higher Interest Rates, Pessimism
There’s been a lot of negativity regarding the housing market lately, some that I feel reflects the usual seasonal slowdown more than anything else. Yes, listing prices often fall in autumn because there are typically more homes on the market ... Read More »
Allow Me to Introduce You to the 5% Mortgage Rate
For those new to the mortgage realm, the number five might feel a little foreign. You see, for the past seven years or even longer, the popular 30-year fixed mortgage has always been in the 3-4% range. Today though, mortgage ... Read More »
Redfin Launches the Owner Estimate to Give Homeowners Control
Are you sick and tired of your Redfin Estimate or Zillow Zestimate being too low? Do you feel your property is worth much, much more than they say it is? Well, I’ve got great news for you! Redfin has introduced ... Read More »
The Largest Nonbank Home Purchase Lender in the Nation Is a Wholesaler
Everyone wants to be #1 these days. I guess that’s no different than any other days, but the battle to be on top is growing more and more contentious, especially as overall home loan volume wanes. Rather surprisingly, a nonbank ... Read More »
Quicken Launches Rocket Homes to Compete with Zillow and Redfin
Following the recent trend of real estate and mortgage link-ups, Quicken has launched “Rocket Homes” to fill in the real estate gap and simultaneously compete with the likes of Zillow and Redfin. The company actually isn’t new, but is a ... Read More »
Believing It’s a Seller’s Market Makes It a Seller’s Market
There’s been a lot of talk lately about a shift from seller’s market to buyer’s market, what with home price gains beginning to moderate somewhat and mortgage interest rates on the rise. But it seems this has been more speculation ... Read More »
