Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Yesterday, we looked back at 2017 and reflected on what happened this past year. I think it’s only fair that we give the future its fair shake today and look ahead at what’s to come.
A lot of reports are coming in on the importance of the Non-QM market and it’s really making a push forward in 2018. This make sense, right? To make up for the dwindling refi's, lenders will need to expand their product offerings and dip their toes into the Non-QM space. It’ll be interesting to see if some big-name investors emerge in the secondary market making the Non-QM loan a little more attractive to sell.
Speaking of Non-QM… with a call for GSE reform and FHFA possibly changing how we look at credit scores… could we see further expansion of the credit box? Fannie and Freddie have taken advantage of the “QM Patch” and expanded their credit requirements, but is there more wiggle room? I think we’ll see some creative ways to make it easier for borrowers to obtain homes, but only time will tell (I needed a cliché… sorry).
We must be prepared for further digitization in the mortgage industry… and it’s not just going to be front facing. Over the past few years, pretty much since you know who dropped that commercial during the Super Bowl, our industry has made a push in making the mortgage experience easier for the consumer (broker and borrower). What we haven’t focused on is how we can make our internal processes more efficient and complaint. HousingWire published a great article on this topic. You can check it out here.
Oh… and maybe we’ll see blockchain technology make its way into the housing industry. I know it’s tough to separate Bitcoin from blockchain, but trust me they are two separate things and blockchain could mean better record keeping in our industry… which is something we’ve long needed.
We’ll also need to keep an eye on our friends at the CFPB (maybe they’ll loosen up a bit) and let’s not forget about the impact of our new tax reform bill… err I mean law. The implications of this new law could mean an increase in housing prices across the country, which could lead to more renting, which means… (ominous music) less people looking for home loans.
I hope everyone is preparing for a New Years celebration and brushing up on the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne. A recent poll in the UK found that only 3% of the population really know the lyrics to the famous tune… I couldn’t find any stats on how many people in the US know the song… it’s probably because we’ve been calling the song “Old Lang Sign”. Either way, make sure you mumble your way through it and enjoy your last few moments of 2017, because 2018 is on the way and you know what that means… you’ll be scribbling out the 7 and putting an 8 on everything you sign and date until at least April.
Happy New Year!!
The opinions expressed in this post are the sole view of the writer and do not reflect the opinion of Princeton Mortgage Corporation.