In today's complex financial landscape, the journey to homeownership can be daunting for first-time buyers. The importance of loan officers extending their roles beyond mere facilitators of loans to becoming pivotal sources of financial education cannot be...
The Hispanic homeownership rate is on the rise. As National Hispanic Heritage Month runs September 15 through October 15, it is an opportune time to take a deeper look at this growing market of homebuyers using data primarily from the 2020 State of Hispanic...
At the start of the year, industry analysts predicted that production would pivot from predominantly refinances to purchase around the middle of the year. Recent MBA Origination Insight Reports have begun to show the scale starting to tip towards purchase loans....
Homebuyers who are making an offer using FHA financing (9.6% of applications for week ending July 16, 20211) or VA financing (10.5% of applications for week ending July 16, 20211) are finding it difficult to compete against buyers who are financing using a...
As we celebrated our nation’s independence last weekend, I couldn’t help but think of the financial freedom that homeownership provides. For many low-to-moderate income first-time homebuyers, the current growth of home prices is pushing that dream further out of...
While soaring home prices and low inventory are probably stressing your first-time homebuyers, there’s another segment of your borrowers who are sitting pretty – your homeowners. If you’ve noticed your refi pipeline drying up, you’re not alone. That’s...
With demand outstripping supply across the nation and homes often attracting multiple bids, it should come as no surprise that CoreLogic has reported that home prices were up in April 13% year over year. In FinLocker’s hometown of St Louis, real estate agents...
Many first-time homebuyers aren’t waiting around for the homebuyer grants. They’re jumping off the fence and landing with two feet to hit the ground running in their quest to buy a home. According to a recent report from the National Association of Home Builders,...
The proposed first-time homebuyer down payment assistance bill is a step in the right direction to help break the cycle of families renting generation after generation and put them in a better position to start creating personal wealth they can pass to the next...
Zillow is predicting 2.5 million new households will enter the housing market in 2021. In contrast, the MBA predicts that refi’s will reduce to just 24% of origination volume by the end of 2022. As mortgage rates rise and refinance volume drops, originators who are...