Mortgage lenders continue to cite ‘consumer-facing technology’ as the most important business priority to maintain competitiveness, according to Fannie Mae’s Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey (MLSS). Additionally, most lenders consider ‘online business-to-consumer lenders’ as their biggest competitor, citing their advantages in technology. The mortgage industry has faced a number of challenges in recent years. Technological advancements,Read more
TICOR TITLE CONTINUES STRONG MOMENTUM OF 2019 Ticor Title is a member of the Fidelity National Financial family of companies and the nation’s largest group of title companies and title insurance underwriters – Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title, Alamo Title and National Title of New York – that collectively issue more titleRead more
During the last week of May, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped below 4.0% and has remained there amid concerns over trade disputes, a possible economic slowdown, and market anticipation of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. This decline in mortgage rates has caused a spike in purchase and refinance mortgage applications. Moreover, we expect thatRead more
We are officially in the heart of summer, and can you believe we’ve only got another month or so before Fall is upon us? August holds some great events all over Orange County and Ticor Title’s Calendar of Events has a list of them for you to enjoy. Download the calendar here. To learn moreRead more
The Role of Housing in the Longest Economic Expansion is a special report examining the role and performance of the housing sector during the ongoing 121 months of consecutive economic expansion in the United States, the longest period on record. Here are the Key Findings on the Economic Influence of Housing: The number of homesRead more
With constant, busy lives, the dream for many Americans is to find that special place to get away from it all. It is not surprising that the number of vacation homes has grown 29% nationwide since 2009. Did you know that you can sell your investment real estate and reinvest the gain, tax deferred, toRead more
Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year over year by 3.6% in May 2019 compared with May 2018 and increased month over month by 0.9% in May 2019 compared with April 2019 (revisions with public records data are standard, and to ensure accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates the newly released public data to provide updated results.)Read more
We want to wish everyone a happy (shortened) work week and a Happy Independence Day! As we celebrate and remember all of the things that make our country great this coming 4th of July … here is a neat list of places to view fireworks, celebrate Independence Day, and a bunch of other great eventsRead more
According to Mark Hanson, SVP, Securitization for Freddie Mac: “We take the loans we purchase and package them into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) bonds that offer a stream of revenue derived from borrower payments. The securities are sold globally to investors, including insurers, pension managers, money managers, REITS and foreign central banks via the TBA markets.”Read more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it will continue revised Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in all-cash purchases of residential real estate until November 11, 2019. The purchase amount threshold, which previously varied by city, is now set atRead more