Headlines

The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its April meeting on Wednesday afternoon, and if industry experts are on track, they could point to another rate hike on the horizon. Regional Federal Reserve Presidents Neel Kashkari, Robert Kaplan and James Bullard have all weighed in on the issue. The Fed previously raised rates from 0.75 points to 1 in March.

Freddie Mac’s latest summary report reveals an increase in both its total mortgage portfolio and its mortgage-related securities. Its mortgage portfolio rose 0.5 percent over the year, while its mortgage-related securities and guarantees jumped by 2.1 percent. The government-sponsored enterprise has funded $127 billion mortgages year-to-date.

The amount of down payment assistance programs available dropped very slightly in Q1, but thousands of programs are still out there. A recent report highlights the most important of these programs available to military and veterans. On top of VA loans, veterans can expect to cut down their down payment entirely with these programs.

After undergoing an extensive testing process, a mortgage document preparation vendor announced its Uniform Closing Dataset XML file has been certified by the GSEs. This new way of submitting documents will be required by Fannie and Freddie starting in the fall for all lenders selling to them. The company trusts this will bring consistency, transparency and clarity to the mortgage industry.

A new analysis of data on the Custom Built Home Market reports that the growth of the market share of custom built homes has slowed yet still remains in fluctuation. The past four quarters, ending in Q1 of 2017, record a two percent increase in the number of custom home starts nationwide compared with the previous four quarters. Experts predict the market will continue to fluctuate in the coming quarters.

Monday, Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. closed on its formerly announced acquisition of Opes Advisors, Inc. In doing so, Flagstar said it has now expanded its origination business and increased its access to higher quality purchase mortgage originations. This is Flagstar’s second acquisition this year.

Millennials are starting to move into the housing market, but with inventory dwindling they may be out of luck. The solution? Newly built homes. Though millennials are often first time buyers, it does not necessarily mean they are starter home buyers.

On Wednesday, LendingHome, a mortgage marketplace lender, announced two new business developments. The company gained Fannie Mae seller and servicer approval, which according to LendingHome, allows them to expand their consumer home financing business and better serve their customers. They also announced Robert Stiles, formerly Nationstar Mortgage, as CFO.

Tyneia (Tye) Merritt, a managing partner at Marinosci Law Group, P.C., in California, has joined the board of the Council for Inclusion in Financial Services.

Purchase loans are up and refis are down according to a recent report. Refis are down significantly over the past six months, while purchase loans are on the rise. Time to close is also narrowing for the month on both purchase and refi loans, averaging just 41 to 42 days per loan.