Tag Archives: Refinance

Mortgage rates rose from 3.57 percent to 4.07 percent over the second quarter, while total refinances completed through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell from about 1.4 million to about 1.3 million.

Mortgage application volume continued to suffer throughout August as interest rates increased, but analysts at Capital Economics note bigger factors at play may aid lending in the near future.

Among bank employees, residential mortgage loan officers have experienced the greatest compensation increase over the past four years--35.6 percent, including base pay and incentive pay, according to the latest Comprehensive Financial Institutions Compensation Survey from Crowe Horwath LLP, a national public accounting consulting firm based in Chicago. Part of the rise in compensation for mortgage loan officers is the result of the refinance boom that resulted from record-low interest rates, according to Crowe Horwath.

According to a report from Bloomberg, "people with knowledge of the matter" said Wells Fargo is removing 2,300 jobs--about 20 percent of its 11,406 loan officers as of March 31. In its story, Bloomberg cited an internal memo written by Franklin Codel, head of mortgage production at Wells Fargo, in which he noted that refinances have fallen to nearly half of total loan share--down from 70 percent in the year's first half. As a result, Codel said, the bank has "had to recalibrate [its] business to meet customers' needs."

After trudging along throughout the first half of the year, economic growth is gaining momentum as expected, according to an Economic and Housing Outlook from Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) group. Looking ahead, the group expects GDP growth will average 2.0 percent for the year, accelerating to 2.6 percent in 2014 as fiscal drags peel away and the housing recovery continues--though the expected tapering of the Federal Reserve's asset purchases may lead to volatility, chief economist Doug Duncan warned.

The percentage of purchase loans finally eclipsed the share of refinances in July, according to Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report for the month. The data sampled shows the mix of purchase loans to refinances was 53 percent versus 47 percent in July--the largest percentage of purchase loans since Ellie Mae began tracking in August 2011 and also the first time purchase share has crossed the 50 percent threshold in at least two years. Also notable was an increase in the share of adjustable-rate mortgage loans as fixed rates climb.

Mortgage application volume dropped 4.6 percent for the week ending August 16, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Refinances took a major tumble, with the Refinance Index seeing an 8 percent week-over-week decline. According to the association, the index has dropped 62.1 percent from the recent peak reached during the week ending May 3. The refinance share of total mortgage activity, meanwhile, fell to 62 percent from 63 percent the week prior.

Recent increases in mortgage rates have CoreLogic asking the question, "Will rising rates lead to declining originations?" When it comes to purchases, CoreLogic economists say in a recent report, "Though mortgage interest rates have recently risen, CoreLogic does not expect any significant slowing in purchase origination volumes." In contrast, "[t]he greatest impact of increasing interest rates on the mortgage originations market will be felt on refinance volumes."

Freddie Mac found that among refinances in the second quarter, 79 percent of homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) switched to fixed-rate loans.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, loan application volume decreased 4.7 percent for the week ending August 9.