Housing Wire

APRIL 19, 2022

Publicly traded mortgage tech company Blend Labs laid off 10% of its workforce amid major headwinds in the mortgage industry. The company, whose white-label technology powers mortgage applications on the websites of major lenders such as Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank , expects to incur about $6.7 million in annualized savings.

Mortgage 370

Mortgage Investors Clients Insurance 370

Housing Wire

APRIL 7, 2022

Nima Ghamsari, CEO and founder of mortgage fintech Blend Labs. In 2008, as the financial crisis was unfolding, he landed a job at secretive big data startup Palantir , where he learned that the $10 trillion mortgage industry was still in the Stone Age technologically. Blend Labs CEO Nima Ghamsari is a betting man. He was right.

Mortgage 384

Mortgage Technology Clients Insurance 384

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

trillion mortgage servicing sector shouldn’t be “disrupted” by financial technology, it should be reimagined with fintech. Most new-to-mortgage fintech folks who overuse the word “disruptor” will start by asking, “What are your requirements?” In mortgage servicing, it’s not about “disruption” for the sake of sounding innovative.

Mortgage 383

Mortgage Investors Technology Modernization 383

Housing Wire

AUGUST 24, 2023

and created a refi boom for mortgage lenders like Better. At that time, the company was valued by its investors at $7.7 But Better’s debut came at a low point in the mortgage market, with mortgage rates at their highest levels in more than two decades and historically low levels of home sales.

Insurance 370

Insurance Mortgage Realtors Business 370

Housing Wire

JUNE 2, 2021

Real estate tech startup Spruce announced on Wednesday a Series C funding round of $60 million led by Zigg Capital and backed solely by repeat investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners and Scale Venture Partners. It claims it reduced the time-to-close on mortgages – the industry standard of which is about 51 days – by 25%.

Real Estate 410

Real Estate Investors Insurance Clients 410

Housing Wire

MAY 11, 2021

Better.com, which offers mortgage, real estate, title and homeowner insurance through its digital platform, has entered an agreement to merge with Aurora Acquisitions Corp., billion in mortgage originations in 2020. billion in mortgage originations in 2020. billion in title insurance and $1.4

Valuation 397

Valuation Insurance Investors Loan Officers 397

Housing Wire

JANUARY 13, 2021

have taken advantage of its mortgage relief provisions. In fact, as of November 2020, a total of 6.5 Many of these challenges persist today, while new ones – like post-forbearance credit reporting, investor and year-end reporting for deferred balances – continue to arise. Investor reporting. But here’s the dilemma.

Mortgage 466

Mortgage Investors Technology Housing Market 466

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Investors have largely shunned nonbank mortgage stocks, and analysts believe the hard times are still ahead. Driven by a desire to achieve greater scale and gain access to cheaper capital, nonbank mortgage lenders dove headfirst into the public markets during the Covid-19 boom. Investors were nonplussed. Finance data.

Mortgage 384

Mortgage Retail Finance Investors 384

Housing Wire

JULY 28, 2022

Xactus will add flood services to its list of verification solutions with the acquisition of MassiveCert , a software company that provides flood zone determinations for insurance, lending and real estate. Up until now, Xactus obtained data from third parties. Servicers, are you prepared for hurricane season? Presented by: ServiceLink.

Insurance 370

Insurance Clients Modernization Technology 370

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

When it comes to housing and mortgage markets this fall, most attention is being focused on the expiration of eviction and foreclosure moratoria and the pending completion of forbearance terms for many homeowners. In June 2020, roughly 8.5% The delinquency rate should follow that downward path closely. This represents about 1.5

Mortgage 485

Mortgage Inventory Investors Design 485

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Managing a profitable mortgage business can be challenging in the best of markets. Mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) are valuable assets for mortgage lenders when origination business is slow. However, it’s unlikely that we’ll see the low rates of 2020 again. of all mortgage applications.

Modernization 370

Modernization Insurance Investors Tools 370

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

It also surpasses by 261% Opendoor’s 2020 loss of $253 million. Opendoor resold 21,725 of the homes it bought in 2021, up 119% from 2020. It is now in 44 markets, compared to 23 at the end of 2020. One hypothetical path to profitability is ancillary services, particularly Opendoor mortgage loans and title insurance.

Investors 432

Investors Real Estate Inventory Finance 432

Housing Wire

MAY 24, 2023

The Federal Reserve ‘s monetary tightening policy and the recent banking crisis have the potential to change the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market’s dynamics more than anything seen over the last two decades, according to secondary market experts. They are likely to be replaced by money managers as investors.

Marketing 384

Marketing Insurance Investors Mortgage 384

Housing Wire

AUGUST 25, 2022

But there’s another threat that Homepoint executives must worry about – United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the top dog in wholesale, has embarked on a strategy of heavy price cutting, forcing Homepoint and others to limbo to compete for business. Mortgage executives project that number to remain steady or even tick up in the third quarter.

Mortgage 397

Mortgage Loan Officers Finance Investors 397

Housing Wire

APRIL 26, 2023

On March 29, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would enhance their COVID-19 pandemic-era deferral policies which allowed homeowners experiencing hardship to defer up to six months of mortgage payments to be settled at the end of the loan.

Insurance 384

Insurance Mortgage Government Investors 384

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2021

with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week gave the mortgage industry a glimpse into how its partner Better.com fared in the second quarter. The digital mortgage lender, which plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), reported a net loss of $86 million in the second quarter. And it wasn’t great.

Insurance 410

Insurance Investors Real Estate Loan Officers 410

Housing Wire

JANUARY 15, 2021

SoFi co-founder Mike Cagney’s latest digital mortgage operation Figure Lending closed on a $100 million funding facility from JPMorgan Chase this week. In a statement, Figure said the $100 million loan facility represents another push toward growth in mortgage lending. How 2020 continues to impact mortgage closings.

Lending 369

Lending Technology Finance Insurance 369

Housing Wire

JUNE 21, 2021

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced last week a cybersecurity violation by title insurance giant First American Financial Corp. What should lenders look for when choosing mortgage technology? First American is the second-largest mortgage title and settlement company in the U.S., Presented by: SimpleNexus.

Insurance 410

Insurance Technology Investors Mortgage 410

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Homebuyer , an Ohio-based software startup offering digital mortgages to first-time home buyers, announced on Monday it had snagged $1.4 million in a seed round from private investors. Homebuyer is how they learn about mortgages, get low direct-to-consumer mortgage rates, and affordably achieve their American dream of homeownership.”.

Loan Officers 434

Loan Officers Investors Legal Buyers 434

Housing Wire

MARCH 9, 2022

In 2020, flat-fee absolutist Fathom lost $1.3 On a call with investors Tuesday evening, CEO Josh Harley said the firm is looking to achieve profitability “in the near future.”. “A Harley and Fregenal also cited Fathom’s growing mortgage, technology and title insurance sectors as sources of profitability in the future.

Inventory 370

Inventory Brokerage Realty Real Estate 370

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

The company’s total revenue for 2021 was up 30% from 2020 to a record of $9.2 Despite this increase, First American’s newly appointed CEO , Ken DeGiorgio, said on an earnings call with investors that everyone at the company is proud of these achievements. billion, with $2.4 billion earned during the fourth quarter.

Insurance 397

Insurance Investing Inventory Business 397

Housing Wire

JULY 27, 2021

Michael Franco: The last two years in the mortgage industry have certainly been unique. Volatility and dramatic shifts in market activity have forced participants across the mortgage lifecycle to embrace more agile business practices. Entering 2020 the market was expecting <$2.0 We got the exact opposite.

Mortgage 384

Mortgage Technology Lending Clients 384

Housing Wire

JUNE 1, 2022

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), total loan production expenses increased to an all-time high of $9,470 per loan in the fourth quarter of 2021. The ALTA Registry is a unique real estate utility created specifically for the mortgage industry and service providers.

Insurance 410

Insurance Real Estate Agents Technology 410

Housing Wire

JULY 6, 2021

Mortgage software platform Blend Labs set terms for its initial public offering Tuesday including its goal to raise up to $360 million for a targeted valuation of nearly $4 billion. Blend, which was named as one of HousingWire’s 2021 Tech 100 winners, has steadily grown to be a powerhouse in the mortgage tech industry. million and $96.0

Technology 384

Technology Mortgage Valuation Insurance 384

Housing Wire

AUGUST 5, 2020

This article was written for FinLedger, HW Media’s new fintech-focused news brand designed specifically for financial services professionals in banking, insurance and real estate. On July 7, we reported on the nation’s largest online mortgage lender dropping its S-1. But investors remain cautious. But investors remain cautious.

Investors 397

Investors Valuation Business Design 397

Housing Wire

AUGUST 23, 2023

” Better is partnering with other businesses to offer services such as homeowner’s insurance and to provide access to a network of real estate agents, rather than offering these products and services directly to borrowers. The company went from a $500 million profit and 11,000 employees in 2020 to only 950 employees by June 2023.

Realtors 370

Realtors Technology Insurance Mortgage 370

Housing Wire

JULY 6, 2023

Digital mortgage lender Better.com disclosed that it posted a net loss of $89.9 In June, the digital mortgage lender decided to shift its real estate strategy , pivoting to a partner agent model where Better.com will partner with outside agents as referral partners. The mortgage lender’s total market share of 0.3% in Q1 2022.

Real Estate 370

Real Estate Agents Business Mortgage 370

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 20, 2021

Less than one month after launching operations , the private holding group StoicLane – the backers of Interfirst Mortgage – has acquired control of the appraisal management company Lender’s Valuation Services (LVS). The team co-founded several companies and, since 2004, they claim to have created $4 billion in equity value to investors.

Appraisal 370

Appraisal Valuation Appraisal Process Finance 370

Housing Wire

MAY 26, 2021

After reading the recent report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency on the performance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’ s credit risk transfer programs, anyone unfamiliar with the purposes of CRT might understandably conclude that the GSEs vastly overpaid capital market investors and insurance providers to transfer credit risk off their books.

Insurance 382

Insurance Investors Design Finance 382

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

The decision was expected by most Fed observers , and comes as mortgage lenders and real estate brokerages struggle to adjust to a Fed-driven slowdown of the housing market. . Rate hikes also impact real estate investors. ” Whether the latest rate hike has already been ‘baked in’ to mortgage rates remains to be seen.

Real Estate 397

Real Estate Housing Market Mortgage Brokerage 397

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

This would be a premium of 51% to CoreLogic’s unaffected share price as of June 25, 2020. Stone Point and Insight Partners are highly respected investors who recognize the value and potential of CoreLogic’s digital content, solutions and market-leading platforms that power the housing economy,” CoreLogic President and CEO Frank Martell said.

Legal 458

Legal Investors Lending Finance 458

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Opendoor has lost money every quarter since becoming a publicly traded company in late 2020. That compares to a $199 million in the first nine months of 2020, a period when operations were partially paused amid the coronavirus pandemic. Wheeler did not break out any numbers on mortgage and title revenue.

Housing Market 370

Housing Market Market Value Insurance Lending 370

Housing Wire

APRIL 7, 2022

After becoming the poster child for callous mass layoffs, mortgage originator Better.com has adopted a new approach to reducing its workforce: the company is now asking staff if they want to leave voluntarily with benefits. “We will not be spending time focused on what investors think.

Business 397

Business Mortgage Insurance Investors 397

Housing Wire

JULY 1, 2022

The mortgage-servicing rights (MSR) market continued to defy gravity and remained upward bound as June came to a close. On the last day of the month, the New York-based Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp. (or billion Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage-servicing portfolio,” the offering documents state.

Marketing 370

Marketing Valuation Insurance Mortgage 370

Housing Wire

APRIL 9, 2021

Residential brokerage and mortgage lender William Raveis is buying its clients’ homes across New England, the tri-state area and Florida. WRRE also will help them buy, finance and insure their next home purchase, with mortgage closing times in as few as eight days, considerably faster than the industry average.

Brokerage 410

Brokerage Real Estate Clients Insurance 410

Housing Wire

MARCH 16, 2022

Tech-fueled retail mortgage lender InstaMortgage has merged with mortgage broker shop All Cal Financial , a rare example of a top-performing brokerage switching channels. Black, a licensed mortgage loan officer and broker, will also lead product development, tech partnerships and sales growth.

Retail 431

Retail Loan Officers Brokerage Technology 431

Housing Wire

APRIL 14, 2022

What happens when the Federal Reserve begins pulling back in a serious way from the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market that it has helped to prop up through billions of dollars in bond purchases since the start of the pandemic in 2020 — to the point where it now holds a $2.7 Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.

Marketing 410

Marketing Investors Government Investing 410