Daily Dose

The AMDC's goal is to drive results that support the application and promotion of the mortgage industry's best diversity practices, and advancing solutions that support initiatives outlined by Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act–which focuses on minority and inclusion rules that call for greater supply chain diversity and greater diversity in hiring and promoting in the workforce.

In today’s environment, all retail lenders should be asking themselves, “What value am I truly offering a borrower?” We know that more and more consumers use an online, self-service option when making any retail purchase —mortgages included. When such convenience is available, why would a customer pay more to get a home loan from a retail lender instead? When faced with these questions, it is important to evolve your retail business model to stay ahead of the curve. Editor's note: This select print feature appeared in the June 2015 edition of MReport magazine, available now.

With the housing market still in recovery from the recession, homeownership is not a commodity that everyone can afford. In fact, it is a luxury. Forbes writer, Erin Carlyle pointed out a housing forecast titled "What to Expect in the Second Half of 2015" that the homeownership rate in 2005 was 69.1 percent, while today, it’s 63.7 percent, the lowest level the nation has seen since 1993. The forecast highlights that sellers are in an ideal market as the demand for housing is back, but for buyers, home prices are not very favorable and continue to rise.

Housing market watchers have been waiting to see what will happen in parts of the U.S. with heavy oil-related employment, according to CoreLogic’s report on their Insights Blog titled “Housing Market Strength in Oil Metros, Equity Position of Texas Oil Metros is Strong.” Between the fall of 2014 and this spring, oil prices fell 42 percent causing those who consistently monitor the housing market to wonder about the effect that this will have on the real estate industry.

Just two weeks after being upgraded by Moody's Investor Service and being placed Standard & Poor's CreditWatch list for a downgrade, S&P cut Ocwen Financial's rankings for residential mortgage prime, subprime, special, and subordinate-lien from Average to Below Average. S&P said that it believed "regulatory and investor scrutiny and/or actions" had affected Ocwen's operations.

As a warning to mortgage industry lenders, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating Bankrate’s mortgage rate comparison tool on Bankrate.com. Bankrate discussed the CFPB investigation in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

Upon the announcement, many lenders, servicers, and other industry members weighted in with their feedback in interviews with MReport, with many expressing their gratitude and detailing the company adjustments they plan to initiate if the proposal is approved.

In Freddie Mac’s most recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) the rates for average fixed mortgages dropped from last week’s unusual high. The Government-Sponsored Enterprise reported that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.0 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 18, 2015.

Home sales in May were greater than in any other May since 2008, while home prices continued to rise, according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report. Sales are on a four-month trend in which they were higher than both the previous month and the same month in the previous year.

Today, Ginnie Mae announced its plans to thoroughly update program requirements and infrastructure in relation to loan documents that serve as collateral for securitized pools of loans.