“Hey Chet, since you’re the new guy here with the park U.S. Geological Survey in Hawai’i, you’re going to be the one placing the live cam on the volcano for our YouTube feed. Splendid! We’ll be behind you all the way.” (Apply to mortgage banking however you see fit.) Scooting back to lending, I am occasionally asked about high balance conforming conventional loans, and why so much of the country doesn’t care about them (to be somewhat blunt). The MBA put out a fine map showing “high-cost areas” defined by the FHFA as “areas in which 115 percent of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit.” The loan limits are permitted to be higher than the baseline loan limit until a ceiling of 150 percent of the baseline limit is reached. That said, remember that 20-25 percent of the nation’s home loans come from California. (Today's podcast is brought to you by SimpleNexus, an nCino company and award-winning developer of mobile-first technology for the modern mortgage lender, and today’s features and interview with Candor’s Sara Knochel on creating the first Loan Quality Services (LQS) underwriting engine, increasing efficiencies for mortgage lenders in a tight market.)
Lender and Broker Software and Services
Recently, a Massachusetts woman was accused of assaulting officers with a swarm of angry bees, Exhibit A, in an ill-advised “hive-jacking” of collective strength. On the other hand, mortgage lenders are focusing on putting their real estate agent network to far better use to increase referral pipelines. Fortunately, SimpleNexus, an nCino Company, helps lenders like Genesee Regional Bank (GRB) connect with more partners to execute productive referral strategies. Through a sharable mobile app, real estate agents can run payment calculations, integrate home search listings, generate self-serve pre-qual letters, and receive push notifications when borrowers complete loan milestones. Download the free case study to learn more about GRB’s experience with SimpleNexus, including its processing, operations, and post-closing efficiencies.
Does getting access to month-end financials 30% faster sound appealing? For Atlantic Bay Mortgage, this is a reality with its new, industry-focused finance system, Loan Vision. Atlantic Bay now completes its month-end close 3 days faster following the recent transition, speeding up access to financial information and decision-making data. “We were closing the books and publishing financials in ten days before. Now, we do it in seven,” said Atlantic Bay’s Director of Accounting Jennifer Byrd. Interested in learning more about how your General Ledger should be helping you maximize efficiencies in your accounting department and gain access to financials faster? Contact Carl Wooloff to schedule a call today.
Computershare Loan Services (CLS) is bringing together the industry’s best talent! Mortgage veteran Ken Harrison, CMB, SVP of Enterprise Sales, recently joined forces with CLS’ multi-talented Enterprise Sales Team. Ken will work alongside fellow industry experts Dana Abernathy, CMB, and Ralph Armenta and, using his 25+ years of mortgage experience, will connect lenders and investors across the nation to CLS’ originations fulfillment, co-issue MSR acquisition, and subservicing solutions. Contact CLS to find out how their power and precision help clients stay one step ahead.
“There is a reason why GHMC’s Prime Jumbo product is making noise in the marketplace! Our Prime Jumbo is now available with loan amounts $1 over conforming. Contact your Account Executive today or visit ghmc.com to learn more about this product offering as well as many of our other exciting products. GHMC has also been hard at work rolling out our new GAssist program. G-Assist was created to offer our TPO partners an affordable, scalable Origination and Processing solution. It offers your own branded, borrower application portal and can be easily combined with our loan processing services. Put our technology and experience to work for you! GConnect, our TPO Portal, has exciting updates rolling out in the coming months such as Quick Disclosures and our new rewards programs GRewards! Stay tuned for more information on both! To learn more about GHMC and all things GLife, visit us today!”
ActiveComply, a leader in social media monitoring and website archival for the financial industry, recently announced that it has been selected by LinkedIn to join the ranks of its exclusive compliance partners. This partnership allows organizations in the highly regulated financial sector to leverage ActiveComply’s trusted OCR technology and machine learning to keep their LinkedIn sales interactions compliant. Explore ActiveComply’s wealth of compliance resources, and learn more about their no-headache compliance solutions for IMBs, banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Request a free demo with real-time social media data from your company today!
The mortgage market is known for its volatility, and the last couple of years have shifted the focus for originators. As another whirlwind of a year ends, it’s anyone’s guess where the market is headed next. The MBA reports that the cost to originate a loan is $10,937. Business scalability and sustainability are more important than ever before. Now is the perfect time to reevaluate your internal fulfillment processes and consider outsourcing. Consolidated Analytics can help you boost back-office productivity, increase capacity without the overhead, and offset your operating costs. The team at CA is staffed and will quickly adopt your processes and technologies to help you remain agile in a changing environment. Contact us to see how our fulfillment team can help your business.
Conforming Conventional Updates
Early last week the 2023 conforming conventional loan limits were announced, and it didn’t take long for lenders, investors, and service providers to “follow suit.” But the Government Sponsored Enterprises also continue to make other changes as the industry watches.
Freddie Mac announced updated requirements to ACE+ PDR (automated collateral evaluation plus property data report) offering updates to ‘ineligible mortgages’ to align with updates to the ACE requirements, reference to new Form 465H, Individual Condominium Unit Appraisal Report (Hybrid), for condominium units when the PDR requires an upgrade to an appraisal. Refer to Bulletin 2022-24 for the effective dates of these changes.
Loan limit values in 2023 are increasing. The new loan limit for most of the country will be $726,200, a 12.21% increase over the 2022 limit and is effective for whole loans delivered to Fannie Mae and loans in MBS pools with issue dates on or after Jan. 1, 2023. View Fannie Mae LL-2022-06 for details. Additional information available the Loan Limit Look-Up Table and the Loan Limits page
Effective with Best Efforts and Single Loan Mandatory locks Monday, December 5th, the Fifth Third LLPA sheet will reflect the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Cash Out adjusters.
In addition, the HomeReady and Home Possible LLPA pricing caps will be implemented to align with the Agencies’ changes. Additionally, Fifth Third issued a reminder that Correspondent Sellers are responsible for completing the holder and servicer transfers on FHA loans to Fifth
Third Bank, National Association (37009) within 15 days of the later of the date the loan is purchased or the date the loan is insured.
In accordance with the recent FHFA announcement, Citi Correspondent Lending is introducing updates to Agency loan limit values for 2023. Read the complete announcement loan limit update December 22 which includes effective dates and details regarding Best Efforts loans, Mandatory commitments, and existing pipeline. Citi Correspondent Lending issued an important reminder, effective with all new Registrations with Borrower Application Dates on/after November 13, 2022- Transactions with loan amounts at least $1 over the Agency Conforming Loan Size are now eligible for our Non-Agency Jumbo product.
PRMG will accept the new loan limits on government products effective January 1, 2023. See each section below for specific requirements by product type. It has not yet been announced when AUS systems will be updated to reflect the new limits. View PRMG Product Update 22-69 for details.
2023 Increased Conforming Loan Limits are here and LoanStream Mortgage is accepting.
FAMC/Citizens Correspondent National Bulletin 2022-21 includes information on 2023 Loan Limits – Conventional Conforming Products. See the bulletin for additional information and all lock, delivery, and purchase by dates, if required.
National MI announced in Bulletin UW 2022-06, its immediate support of the higher GSE Conforming and High Balance/Super Conforming loan amount limits. An update to the Eligibility Matrices in National MI’s TrueGuide® Underwriting Guidelines explaining these changes will be posted to nationalmi.com on or before January 3, 2023.
AmeriHome General announcement 20221111-CL summarizes previously published changes made during November, additional changes made with the announcement, and recent Agency and regulatory news.
Wells Fargo Funding Newsflash C22-049 includes pricing news on New Best Effort SRP pay-ups conventional Conforming Loans, effective January 3, 2023, updated IRS Form 4506-C required, effective March 1, 2023 and Wells Fargo Funding is changing our email address and domain.
Capital Markets
Last week was full of significant economic data releases, but Fed Chairman Powell’s speech on Wednesday was the primary market mover. He hinted it might be time to reduce the magnitude of rate hikes from 75-basis points to 50-basis points. This comes as inflationary data that, despite being very elevated, hasn’t been getting worse. Manufacturing data suggests that input costs are finally declining, which is in contrast to employment data that remains strong and wage data that is still contributing to inflation.
Looking specifically at the news Friday morning, November’s 263k new monthly jobs are lower than earlier in the recovery, but are still strong by recent historical standards. Over the last three months, job gains have averaged 272k while during the prior recovery following the great recession job gains averaged 190k per month. Job openings have been moderating as well since earlier in the year however, there are still 1.71 jobs available for each job seeker. Recent monetary tightening has, to this point, had minimal impact on labor markets, which show continued demand for workers. This suggests that the economy is resilient and can handle more rate hikes and restrictive policy for longer. Wage growth does remain below the pace of inflation, meaning that households will have an increasingly difficult time managing higher costs.
This week’s calendar includes updates on non-manufacturing PMIs, with PPI, Michigan sentiment and wholesale inventories on Friday. The Fed is in blackout ahead of next week’s FOMC events while the RBA and BoC will be out with their latest monetary policy decisions tomorrow and Thursday, respectively. Regarding MBS, November agency prepayments will be released after tomorrow's close and Class A 48-hours is on Friday. Today’s calendar kicks off with a lot of non-market moving data: S&P Global Services PMI, which will be followed by the November Employment Trends Index, ISM non-manufacturing PMI for November, and October factory orders. We begin the week with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from Friday and the 10-year yielding 3.51 percent after closing last week at that level percent despite the strong employment data.
Employment
“Ready to double your business in any economy? 2023 can be your year! Centennial Lending Group (CLG) is searching for a few more people to join our team of S.M.A.R.T. Influencers. This is an exclusive program for established loan originators with GRIT. Embrace our proven strategy supported by a top-tier tech stack. Discover leadership and support like you've never experienced before. Led by Sue Meitner, CLG is the top performing branch powered by Success Mortgage Partners. Sue shares the expertise cultivated over 30 years in the mortgage industry. If you would like to be considered for our S.M.A.R.T. (Strategic. Motivating. Actionable. Results-based. Turnkey) Influencer program, contact Sue Meitner at 215-469-1000. Learn why CLG is the place to be.”
“If you are a successful producing mortgage loan officer who enjoys reaching out to end users and referral sources, loves creating mutually beneficial relationships, and providing potential customers the best ways to finance their projects and careers… And if you want to work in the exciting music space, then you should reach out to Sound Royalties, the music industry’s leading financial services company. Sound Royalties is looking to grow our team of Royalty Specialists. If you are looking for a career path that allows you to leverage your skills and knowledge in financial services into one of the fastest growing and fun industries, you can reach out to Sound Royalties at Lynda Galvez. Sound Royalties is led by Michael Bizenov, who started his financial services career in the mortgage industry and who created, grew, led and then consulted for some of the most successful mortgage operations in the country. At Sound Royalties we understand the value that experienced financial services professionals can contribute to the music creative community by utilizing our pioneering and unique set of artist-friendly financial programs. Managers with teams are welcome to inquire.”
FHA has two Appraiser vacancies available in multiple locations. Duties include reviewing and managing appraisals assigned for review, conduct detailed desk reviews and field reviews.
View announcement 23-HUD-324-P for details.
FHA is accepting applications for a Director, Program Operations and Customer Service Division in Atlanta Georgia, Job announcement 23-HUD-273-P. Duties include Implement and monitor procedures for all contracting services, formulate and monitor the travel and other budgets for the HOC; establishes procedures to track and control program and administrative funds.
And the FHA has one vacancy for a Single Family Program Advisor in Philadelphia, PA. Job functions include acting as coordinator and principle advisor on key programmatic issues and problems, identify systemic problems which crosscut functional areas related to the areas of SF programs. Interested parties find details in announcement 23-HUD-316-P.
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