Tag Archives: Investors

In Texas, Pacific Union Financial, LLC hired Tim Wagner as SVP of marketing. Wagner joins the company from Nationstar Mortgage, where he was VP of marketing. There, he directed the integrated and ecommerce marketing teams, supporting all corporate, servicing, and originations decisions.

While rising home prices across the nation may be good news as they imply recovering markets, the trend may dampen housing affordability.

Production and profitability both increased among independent mortgage bankers last quarter, though commissions continue to decline, according to a quarterly trend report released by Richey May & Co. The quarterly benchmarking survey--put together using the company's Richey May Select analytical technology--shows overall production increased among independent mortgage banks by 11 percent from the first quarter to the second.

In an effort to streamline the mortgage insurance application process, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) introduced several changes to its underwriting guidelines.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, loan application volume decreased 4.7 percent for the week ending August 9.

Home inventories continue to decline in many markets across the country, but the pace of those declines appears to be slowing, which may in turn slow price appreciation in some markets, according to Realtor.com. National housing inventory declined 5.24 percent year-over-year in July, which is a slowdown from the 16.47 percent year-over-year decline reported in January. At the same time, the number of markets with declining inventory year-over-year decreased to 118 in July.

FirstREX, a real estate equity finance firm operating out of San Francisco, has brought on Don Shewmaker and Jim McGuire to help the company meet growing demand for its down payment funding program, REX HomeBuyer.

Mortgage Master, a super-regional mortgage bank and one of the country's largest privately owned mortgage companies, announced the opening of a new retail branch location in Northern Virginia.

According to Redfin's Real-Time Demand Pulse for August, the brokerage's agents continue to report declines in both the number of customers touring homes and the number of signed offers.

Realtor.com released its list of the second quarter's top "turnaround towns" in terms of market recovery, and California once again dominated the list. More notable, however, was the presence of Detroit, which--despite its recent bankruptcy--showed a strong performance. In fact, Detroit may soon be "one of the most balanced markets in the nation," according to Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move, an online real estate network. The Motor City claimed the No. 7 spot after its inventory age fell to 45 days.