Okay, so I’m working out getting back into the swing of things with the blog and what I’m realizing is that developing brand new content is exhausting… especially considering the fact that writing about the mortgage industry means re-purposing the same thing over and over again. So… with that in mind. Let’s just take a quick spin around the horn and look at what happened this week.
First and foremost, let’s take a look at the 10-year Treasury Note. We’re sitting around the mid to low 2.6’s which is allowing for nice little rally as we head into the spring buying season. The only problem is the two Michigan based wholesale lenders who have been in a “Bro Down” (check this link to find out what a Bro Down is) for almost year… comparing their muscles and spray tans while drinking a case strawberry flavored light beers during spring break… rocked the boat so hard by starting off the year with a pricing war that other lenders are struggling to compete in the space right now.
That said, take a look at the publicly posted turn times for these lenders (I hope everyone knows who I’m talking about… if not give me a call, my number is listed below). Initial underwrites are taking 3-4 days in some cases. My prediction? This price war comes to end soon… oh we’re closing loans in 12 days over here at Princeton Wholesale. Just an FYI.
Wells Fargo is getting beat up... I guess that nothing new though, right?
The CFPB is looking into the issues with Reverse Mortgages. Reverse mortgage servicers have not been notifying the heirs of the deceased borrowers about their right to repay or place the property up for sale. Hmmm… did anyone ever think that this program was rock solid in the first place?
Let’s see what else is out there… oh here is a little nugget. Credit standards are continuing to fall as the market constricts. This means we’ll continue to see more and more nonbank lenders with unique credit products to make up for the loss in the volume. This could be a good thing as there is more margin built into those products, BUT as always taking on more credit risk means you’re taking on more overall risk and you know how our industry has handled risk in the past.
Well, I just read through this post and boy do I sound ornery. At least we have St. Patty’s day this weekend! I hope everyone has a good time and stays safe.
Talk to you soon!
MJ
The opinions expressed in this post are the sole view of the writer and do not reflect the opinion of Princeton Mortgage Corporation.