The Buffalo Springfield sang, “There's something happening here… But what it is ain't exactly clear.” Those were historical times, and a reminder that things are always changing… In Whole Foods the other day I overheard a little girl speaking to another little girl (both in yoga pants) saying, “I’m vegan; I don’t eat candy from animal pinatas.” What the heck, that’s the focus now? For something a little more common sense, and relevant, the current blog on the STRATMOR website is, “The Secondary Market’s Focus.” Certainly the goals of the Federal Reserve will be a topic this Thursday at 2PM ET when the MBA’s fabled chief economist Mike Fratantoni and I whilst we talk shop for 2023 with Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach. Few stones left unturned! (Today’s podcast is sponsored by Appraisal Logistics, a full-service AMC licensed in all 50 states. AIM-Port’s robust integrations, custom automations, and granular reporting tools are delivering gains in efficiency and cost savings to lenders across the country. Today’s features interview with ICE Mortgage Technology’s Chris McEntee on top-of-mind items for 2023.)

Lender and Broker Software and Services

70% of originators attending our Deep Dive webinar series have not closed a non-QM loan in the past 12 months. Is that because your referral sources don’t know about non-QM? That makes it more important than ever to choose the right non-QM lender. Angel Oak remains fully committed to the non-QM sector as account executives from Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions are ready and able to assist you with everything from structuring deals to helping you market non-QM to your referral partners. Click the link to view a testimonial from broker, Mario Galdos at Triton Group at Legacy Mutual Mortgage, who recently hosted a presentation to educate his realtors on Non-QM.

25% of FHA loans files were financed with the help of family gifts, making the family bank a more popular source of down payment assistance (DPA) than government-funded DPA, which was used on 14% of loans. But as it turns out, emptying the family coffers to help first time homebuyers might not be the best move. Research from Down Payment Resource and the Urban Institute shows that 60%+ of FHA loans originated across 31 major MSAs were eligible for six DPA programs. The average DPA program benefit today is $17,000. Consumer demand has never been higher for affordable pathways to homeownership. Down Payment Resource has the tools you need to capture intense market demand for affordable mortgage programs and originate them with ease. With subscriptions available for individual LOs and enterprises, give yourself and the communities you serve the gift of Down Payment Resource this holiday season.

“Hoping to spruce up your mortgage business in the new year? Consider starting with the elf-ephant in the room, i.e., inefficient loan processing. At wemlo®, our “virtual in-house processing” services offer busy mortgage professionals a scalable alternative to the old, slow, and often clunky ways of processing loans. Best of all, there is no minimum loan volume needed or subscription required: we only charge our fee when the loan closes. Available in 46 states plus Washington D.C., wemlo’s processing team is trained to work with dozens of loan products and lenders. Ready to be s-mitten with wemlo’s third-party loan processing services? Schedule your 1:1 call to learn more.”

“Northpointe Bank Correspondent Lending’s Investor Cash Flow program allows eligible borrowers, including business LLCs, to finance investment properties based on the cash flow of the subject property rather than utilizing the borrower’s income. With loan amounts up to $2,000,000 and loan-to-value ratios up to 80%, Northpointe’s Investor Cash Flow includes fixed-rate, adjustable-rate, and interest-only options. The program allows unlimited cash out for loans with LTVs up to 60% and loan amounts up to $1,500,000, has a minimum debt service credit ratio (DSCR) of 0.75, and is eligible for non-warrantable condos and condotels. Available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Northpointe Bank provides tailored solutions to maximize your profitability and help grow your business. View program details for more information or email us.”

As housing prices continue to decline in cities across the U.S., you need the right data to inform your home equity lending strategy. Black Knight offers McDash® Home Equity, a robust, industry-leading database for you to monitor home equity trends. The data delivers valuable insights, including home equity lending patterns, delinquency and prepayment performance, as well as line utilization. And, since Black Knight’s McDash provides the deepest, broadest, servicer-contributed, loan-level data on the mortgage market, you can rely on it for a variety of critical applications, including benchmarking, research, planning and modeling. Download a complimentary McDash® Equity Report to see McDash data in action. Download the report here.

Want to learn how theLender increased processor loan capacity by 2X and achieved a 90% loan app completion rate? theLender recently saw an astounding three-year growth rate of 20,489%, landing it at #11 overall, and #1 among mortgage lenders, on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list. The technology that helped power that growth? To deliver for its customers while earning market share, theLender leverages Maxwell Point of Sale and Processor Edge. Together, these solutions help theLender team increase efficiency, drive sales, and serve its growing customer base a modern, customized experience. “The thing that attracted me to Maxwell Point of Sale in the first place was the efficiency it produced, buying time back for my originators to sell and get more loans and creating a great customer experience,” says Chris Ledwidge, Co-founding Partner & EVP. Want to read more? Click here to learn how theLender partners with Maxwell to meet borrower needs in a challenging market.

Let’s be partners! You can go FAR with exclusive products from Finance of America Reverse LLC (FAR), the #1 Wholesale Reverse Lender. HomeSafe offers jumbo loans up to $4 million for borrowers 55 and older, has an optional line of credit that grows over time, and can be used to purchase a new home. EquityAvail combines forward and reverse mortgage benefits, reduces and then eliminates monthly mortgage payments*, and is an innovative solution for non-qual borrowers. Reverse mortgages can help you solve the unknown. Power your business with reverse. *The borrower must meet all loan obligations; property must be principal residence & paying property charges. The loan must be repaid when the last borrower leaves the home. HomeSafe® and EquityAvail® are proprietary products of Finance of America Reverse LLC and are not affiliated with the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.

Webinars and Training

The private mortgage insurance companies certainly offer a fine set of classes. There’s National MI University, the Enact’s course catalog of on-demand webinars, MGIC, Essent, Radian, and ARCH MI.

Milliman is offering a complimentary On-Demand Webinar Series providing up-to-date research and analysis on the CRT market. The second episode in a quarterly series provides insights into market dynamics, prerecorded and last about 20 minutes, so you can watch at your convenience.

Join Senior Director of SitusAMC Insights Peter Muoio, PhD and Vice President of SitusAMC Insights Jennifer Rasmussen, PhD for a 30-minute webinar, Tuesday, December 13 at 11:00 PST, discussing key developments in the economy, capital markets and asset classes, with forward-looking insights into the commercial real estate market. We’ll be sharing insights gleaned from our deep market knowledge and proprietary market participant surveys that can help you make more informed investment decisions.

October Research, LLC has teamed up with Saul Ewing LLP Partner Francis “Trip” Riley and Sterbcow Law Group’s Managing Attorney Marx Sterbcow to offer clarity on the Fifth Circuit ruling. Join us for the CFPB Unconstitutionally funded? What does it mean? webinar on Dec. 14th. They will break down the potential effects this action has on the industry, who it applies to, what happens next and much more. Register today to get all your questions answered. All subscribers receive a complimentary registration.

The National Association of Realtors® will host its fourth annual Real Estate Forecast Summit on Tuesday, December 13, from noon to 2 p.m. Eastern. The all-virtual event will provide a year-end review and outlook on the real estate market and economy. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun and a group of leading real estate economists and researchers will arrive at a consensus forecast for the 2023 real estate market and beyond. Space is limited and is first come, first served. Priority access to the post-event recordings will be reserved for media who register for the live webinar.

Join XINNIX on December 14th at 12 PM ET for Building a Culture of Excellence. In this live webinar, Casey will share her invaluable insights and the vital steps necessary to build a culture of excellence. Reserve your seat today!

Once again, PRMG NON-QM Expert, Paul Jones, will share his insight and unmatched experience when delving into the depths of product training, pricing, product analysis, marketing assistance, and capital market initiatives for Retail, Wholesale, Correspondent and Non-Del Channels. Register for PRMG’s virtual zoom meeting, December 13th at 4:00 PM Eastern time.

This Friday at 3PM ET is the next edition of The Mortgage Collaborative’s Rundown with Rich Swerbinsky and me. We’ll will be covering current events in the mortgage market for 45 minutes starting at noon PT in “The Rundown with Rich and Rob”!

Join PRMG University to learn about PRMG's Ruby Express Jumbo product which provides multiple product options using AUS findings for most documentation and requirements with LTVS to 89.99% and loan amounts up to $3,000,000. Two trainings dates in December 2022: Tuesday, December 13th 1:30 PM Pacific / 4:30 PM Eastern and Wednesday, December 21st 9:30 AM Pacific / 12:30 PM Eastern.

PRMG’s December trainings cover a wide variety of topics. Learn about the FHA 203(h) product, the Mortgage Insurance for Disaster Victims program, which allows for up to 100% financing, Tuesday, December 27th. View all training opportunities, view PRMG University TPO December Training Calendar.

On December 8, 2022, Procedure Notice 572 was issued, which updates and improves the direct single family housing programs through changes to Handbook-1-3550, Chapter 5.

As part of the certified packaging process, RD partners with the Housing Assistance Council, NeighborWorks America, and the Rural Community Assistance Corporation to provide Section 502 direct loan application packaging training. Two online certified loan application packaging courses are open for registration. Details (e.g., registration cost, etc.) are available on the UDSA Training Site.

Capital Markets

Ahead of the busy next few days with the November Consumer Price Index report, latest Federal Open Market Committee decision, November Retail Sales report, and BoE, ECB, SNB and Norges Bank monetary policy decisions, rates rose slightly to open the week. Monday saw a $32 billion 10-year note reopening, which met weak demand (not good for prices), and a $40 billion 3-year note sale that found solid interest. Expectations for the final FOMC meeting for 2022 are that a 50-basis point rate hike is more likely than 75, and that uncertainty means we will likely see a pretty wide range for the 2023 fed funds forecast in the dot plot.

We also learned that services data for November exceeded market expectations and showed business activity picking up. There was some moderation in prices, however, prices remain high by historical standards. The trade deficit widened as exports of natural gas to the EU fell due to unseasonably warm weather this fall. Additionally, industrial supplies and autos increased imports. Credit card debt, which has supported consumer spending this fall, continues to increase and is up 10.4 percent over last year. The average interest rate for all credit cards in the third quarter has risen to 16.27 percent: not good for consumers.

Last week ended with the Producer Price Index for November a touch above market expectations, and though it registered the slowest annual reading since early 2021, the miss caused worries that today’s CPI reading might also be high, which would see rates pushed back upward. Before CPI was November NFIB Small Business Optimism (91.3 up to 91.9). November CPI came in (+.1 percent, a downside surprise) with Core CPI (+.2 percent, a downside surprise, +6 percent year over year). Both were expected to increase 0.3 percent month-over-month. And as has been well telegraphed, the first day of the FOMC’s two-day meeting gets underway in the morning with the Statement and updated SEP out tomorrow afternoon followed by Chair Powell’s press conference. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices better nearly .5 and the 10-year yielding 3.43 after closing yesterday at 3.61 percent.

Careers

You know what’s better than an old bearded fellow sneaking down your chimney? The gift of becoming your own boss. Unwrap Motto Franchising’s Mortgage Brokerage-in-a-Box for your very own mortgage brokerage, but without all the heavy lifting that usually comes with launching a business. That’s because we provide: *a guided office launch* *a seamless technology ecosystem* *a growing library of professional marketing content* *product mix and established wholesale lender relationships* and *industry-leading training and support*. Give yourself the gift that keeps on giving and OWN the benefit of every home loan transaction, chimney included or not. Email us for brokerage ownership details.

FHA has one vacancy in multiple locations for a review appraiser. View announcement 23-HUD-342-P for more information.