News

Housing inventory is so limited, even Google has taken notice. On Wednesday, the technology giant announced its own efforts to alleviate the ever-tight (and ever-expensive) housing market of Silicon Valley through an investment in modular housing. The company will purchase 300 modular home units from startup Factory OS, a deal Factory’s CEO says is worth $25 to $30 million. Housing prices in Google’s home base San Francisco have risen nearly 100 percent since 2009, and inventory has been dropping steadily over the past year, driving demand—and prices—even higher. Year-to-date, home prices in the city have appreciated 5 percent—the second-most of all major U.S. markets.

The Fed has voted for the second time this year to raise interest rates, a decision that was hinted at back in March by Janet Yellen, FOMC Board of Governors Chair. The FOMC is of the opinion that waiting too long to scale back accommodations could potentially cause a rapid increase in rates, which could disrupt the market and send the economy into another recession. It is currently unclear how the hike in interest rates will affect mortgage rates.

International Document Services, Inc., a Mortgage document preparation vendor, announced it has incorporated a new document preview feature into its integration with LendingQB’s cloud-based loan origination solution. The feature allows LendingQB users to preview mortgage documents, such as the Loan Estimate or Closing Disclosure, before they are submitted to fulfillment. This enables lenders to spot and correct errors before the creation of the final document.

Nationwide Title Clearing announced that Dave LaRose will volunteer to support the Mortgage Bankers Association's Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization as it works to create a mortgage industry Business Glossary. MISMO announced plans to create the glossary earlier this year and called for industry volunteers to support the effort.

ClosingCorp announced the release of SmartEngine which will help title companies centralize data processing and connect their rate and fee data to any third-party system, including title production systems, websites and ClosingCorp’s SmartFees, and SmartCalc products to reliably exchange information to produce estimates.

The National Mortgage Servicing Association (NMSA) announced the appointment of Jim Taylor, SVP of Property Preservation with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Asset Management, to lead the organization’s effort to mitigate the threat that vacant and abandoned properties pose to homeowners and communities. Taylor, a 30-year industry veteran, leads asset management and preservation of Wells Fargo’s residential servicing portfolio while caring for the interests of the communities it serves. He earned his M.S. in Management from Purdue University concurrently with an MBA from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Rouen, and a B.S. from the University of Washington.

The U.S. Treasury Department could finally be getting a new Deputy Secretary in the near future according to three sources inside the department. Brian Brooks, General Counsel, EVP, and Corporate Secretary for Fannie Mae, is said to be filling the position. Goldman Sachs Executive Jim Donovan was previous in line for the vacancy, but recently withdrew.

Federal Open Market Committee is set to finish its June meeting on Wednesday and it is widely expected that they will raise interest rates in order to keep the economy stabilized, even though inflation remains around 2 percent. In May, when they last met, members of the board chose to keep interest rates at their current level. Will this mean anything for mortgage interest rates? One expert believes it might not impact the mortgage market at all.

Deregulation is on the horizon according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Monday report. While some avidly oppose the change, many see it as a positive adjustment for banks, consumers, and the economy. Whether the changes will destroy the economy or create long-term stability, the Treasury and Administration said it will forge ahead to its next steps working with congress to change statutes, regulations, and supervisory guidance.

On Tuesday the May Quicken Loans National Home Price Perception Index and National Home Value Index was released, showing that while home prices continue to rise, they are not rising as fast as homeowners expect. There are, however, cities, such as Denver, Dallas, and Seattle, where appraisals are higher than what homeowners expect. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago had the largest disparity between appraisals and homeowner expectations.