If you do a quick Google search with the key words “Millennials” & “Mortgage” you’ll find stockpiles of articles, analysis and data trying to figure out what OUR (I’m a millennial… FYI) ultimate impact will be on the housing market. Now, we’ve already started to see a shift in buying power as Business Insider reported that Millennials control 42% of new mortgage loans by dollar volume… surpassing Gen X’ers (these are the 90210, Melrose Place & Real Word crowd) at 40% and the

That’s what I look like when I hear the words ‘market correction’. It’s simple cause end effect. An action is taken, and a result is produced. What happens when housing prices drop? A chance for investors to stack some bills. Like some other ambitious 20-somethings, I have a good friend who’s been toying with the idea of buying a house for the past two years. We’ve always had serious intentions in purchasing investment properties and already have (the beginnings of) plans in

As you’ve probably noticed in the past few weeks our blog posting has become a bit irregular. You can blame it on a variety of different things… we’re growing as a company and as a result we had to allocate our resources to focus on production, thus eliminating the availability of myself and the team to come up with original content, but that’s an excuse. You could also blame the industry for “lack of content” …if you check the mortgage news outlets you’ll see the same song i

The National Bureau of Economic Research found that technology-driven lenders have created efficiencies in the home lending business that give them an edge over traditional lenders. The study found that fintech lenders’ market share jumped to 8% in 2016 from 2% in 2010. In 2010, the Fintechs originated $34 billion in mortgages and that stood at $161 billion as of the end of 2016. The researchers found that loans issued by Fintechs defaulted 25% lower than traditional lenders,

When I was in high school, there was basically 2 options after graduation, 1) go to college, 2) go to a technical school and enter a trade industry. I would say the majority of my friends (90% or so) went to college, chose a major, graduated, and are now working at a job or in an industry that has nothing to do with their major. Additionally, I would say that 90% of that 90% are paying back student loans that they needed to take out (because most people don’t have hundreds of

It’s a seller’s market, in more ways than one. Most areas are experiencing a record low number of houses being listed for sale but also a high demand to buy from the large groups of Millennials and Gen-X’ers. Incentives to refinance are evaporating and all signs continue to point to gradual rate increases. How does an originator thrive in an environment like this? You don’t want to be stuck scrubbing your current client base to see if they need cash-out refi’s and HELOCs. Yo

In 2016, refinances made up 50% of mortgage transactions. In 2017 they made up 35% and with rates on the rise in 2018 we’re going to see refi’s make up about 25% of the market… what am I telling you this for? These are things we already knew, right? Margins are down too… tell us something we didn’t know Matt. Well…despite low refi originations and compressed margins, nonbank lenders and mortgage brokerages employed 339,800 employees in February. This was an increase of 2,500

In my previous blog post, I discussed how home prices were outpacing the average US wage. A short housing supply and an ever-increasing demand for home purchases seemed to be the catalyst for all this. This week we received more data to confirm this general market trend. Applications for mortgages jumped 4.8 percent last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted report. This happened as interest rates rose again last week

For much of us in the north east, the first day of Spring is ruined by depressing winter weather warnings. When will it start to feel like Spring outside? When will the Black Stallion (my 2011 fully-loaded but never dependable Dodge Avenger) get a break from the salt? When it comes to the weather, I’m a world-class complainer. But even I know that it WILL get warm again, sooner or later. The same can be said about the common debate of Millennial participation in the housing

After Matt Joy’s important, but long post yesterday… I figured today we’d keep it short and sweet for our readers! There have been two attention grabbing statistics lately that seem to be shaping the future of the housing industry. The first was last week's release of the latest government employment report. The report noted that wages in February grew at a less-than-expected 0.1 percent, representing a 2.6 percent advance on an annualized basis. On the other hand, according

The MBA has announced that mortgage applications have dropped at the beginning of February, which appears to be the opposite of what we saw when we looked this time last month. Purchase applications decreased while ARMs increased, drawing a sensible conclusion that this is a direct result of the rising interest rates. As rates continue to rise, some are starting to ask what a 5% interest rate would bring to the housing market. Has creeping over the 4.5% mark for the first tim

Financial institutions, primarily banks, have gone through brash changes in the wake of the millennial generation entering the work place. This new wave of consumers require new marketing techniques, digital info structure and a more robust overall strategy to win their loyalty. When it comes to mortgages, is the key to the millennial heart going to be super-cool apps they can use on their smart phones or maybe a catchy/viral marketing campaign? These might not cut it. ​ Acco

Tucked along the Allegheny River, Lawrenceville is one of Pittsburgh’s largest neighborhood areas. It’s home to one of our country’s finest Children’s Hospitals, a bustling nigh-life and food scene and the Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotic Center. It’s not abnormal to see one of Uber’s driverless cars cruising down Butler street as you leave one of the newest… coolest eateries in the city. However, it’s also home to the highest rent costs in Pittsburgh. Now, the measly $1,

Photo by QuinceMedia on Pixabay There has been some buzz around the housing industry this past week with several organizations releasing the 2017 year-end housing data and predicting what we can expect in 2018. I won’t bore you with the analytics but to bring you up to speed – home sales (both new & existing) finished at the highest level since 2007 and the trend is expected to continue; rent increased 3% but mortgage application also increased 3% (which could be a telling si

Yesterday, I mentioned that there might be more of an appetite for refinances in 2018, but when will we see Millennials flex their buying power and invest in new homes? I’m not sure it’s going to be any time soon… as a new report from HousingWire states that nearly 40% of students with college loans could default by 2023. Wow… that’s a staggering number and maybe the CFPB should do a hard pivot away from the mortgage industry and start considering how our country lends money

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash According to the National Association of Realtors there were 614,000 condo sales completed in 2016… FHA provided financing for about 4%. It’s no secret that the Obama administration made the lending requirements for condos strict, some would even say… impossible? Late last year, FHA adjusted their owner occupancy requirements for condo developments from 50% to 35%. Unfortunately, that was not enough to stimulate an appetite for the FHA condo p

In this day and age, data is everything. Accessing specific data allows companies to create strategic marketing plans and target customer groups that are flying under the radar. Mortgage loans are a commoditized product, so lenders are constantly looking for ways to create competitive advantages to increase their market share. With the expansion of HMDA data collection starting January 1, 2018 , certain lenders are seeing this as an opportunity rather than a burden. According

Does anybody really know what the “Millennial” demographic looks like? If you do a Google search for “What is a Millennial” you’ll find tons of articles and data that says… Millennials were typically born between the early 1980s, mid 1990s and early 2000s. That’s a pretty broad range if you ask me, but hey what do I know? According to NAR the typical homebuyer in 2017 is a Millennial around 32 years of age. Their average household income is about $75K and their average home c

It looks like Millennials aren’t just technology zombie’s scrolling through their Instagram and Snapchat timelines. Ellie Mae’s data for September showed that conventional refinances increased from 15% in August to 17% for Millennials. We also saw FHA refi’s increase 1% and an 8% uptick on VA refi’s. What does this data show us? It appears that we’re (I’m a Millennial FYI) taking advantage of refinance opportunities and paying attention to the interest rate environment. It’s

Did you see that FNMA conducted another one of their surveys? Rather than just mulling over the data like I normally do… I was pretty engaged with this one. The survey says that 90% of mortgage borrowers (including millennials) prefer to sit down with someone or speak with someone on the phone. Check it out here. It appears that despite all the hype around the Direct-to-Consumer and limited touch/high tech retail products, borrowers would rather speak to a real live human! Wh