Rising interest rates. Rising home prices. Shortage of housing starts. Happy New Year, everyone.
As 2019 looks to be a tough year in lending, we are already seeing shifts in the market. The first full week of January saw two major origination acquisitions: AmeriSave buying the lending platform from TMS and Movement Mortgage buying Eagle Home Mortgage. There is more to come, but also more to worry about.
As Matt Clarke, from Churchill Mortgage, writes in our guest feature: “In the immediate future, however, it looks as though the housing market will be awash with ‘amateur loan officers,’ many of whom are shifting their business from refinances to purchase loans. This will further add to the competition on price and increase pressure on profit margins. Long-time professional lenders will have to work that much harder to maintain their
market share, much less expand.”
Servicers will also struggle in 2019 as interest rates rise and they deal with new changes such as the end of LIBOR. Associate Editor Kelsey Ramírez writes that this London-based rate could cause trouble as $1 trillion in ARMs are linked to the rate, which is set to expire by the end of the year with no new option in site.
Also moving into the New Year, we are going to try something new in the back departments, starting with this issue. We are now going to devote sections to the latest from our growing communities in mortgage lending, multifamily and reverse mortgage spaces. Check it out, and enjoy!
