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[ad_1] The housing market continues to be hot in most of the country, but there are signs that the party may be coming to an end. To help better understand what the latest data means for the industry, HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami answered questions about what it all means. The Q&A was hosted in the HW+ Slack channel, which is exclusively available to members. To join the next Q&A, you can join HW+ here. Looking at the last few weeks, Mohtashami has covered a range of topics. From putting context around housing starts to explaining how housing data will moderate, it’s safe to say that there was a lot to cover. The following Q&A has been lightly edited for length and clarity. HousingWire: To begin, you mentioned how the home-price growth is not going great. Could you elaborate on why that is?  How would that affect your predictions for 2022? Logan Mohtashami: Of course! My biggest concern in 2021 was that home prices would take off in an unhealthy way, even after what happened in 2020. Since I didn’t believe in the Forbearance Crash Bro premise, this was the number one concern. My home price model for the years 2020-2024, which is a big part of all my economic work, was that as long as we got only 23% peak growth in these five years, we will be fine. However, we have already pushed above that in 2 years. This is still my most significant concern for 2022 because total inventory levels haven’t reached my 1.52 million level, which I believe will take away the bidding wars and bring a B&B market — Boring and Balanced. This content is exclusively for HW+ members. Start an HW+ Membership now for less than $1 a day. Your HW+ Membership includes: Unlimited access to HW+ articles and analysis Exclusive access to the HW+ Slack community and virtual events HousingWire Magazine delivered to your home or office Become a member today Already a member? log in The post Is the housing market cooling down? appeared first on HousingWire. [ad_2] Source link

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[ad_1] Today, borrowers expect to close fast. A small issue within the title process can have an impact on the length of the closing process, impacting mortgage lenders and borrowers. HousingWire recently spoke with Dave Steinmetz, Division President of Origination Services for ServiceLink, on what tools lenders should leverage to streamline home equity title and closing. HousingWire: How did the title business adapt to unique conditions caused by the pandemic, the growth of the remote workforce and low interest rates? Dave Steinmetz: Starting in early 2020, we worked to scale production with the challenges presented by the combination of the pandemic and record volumes. Luckily, the technology and infrastructure we had in place at ServiceLink kept our client service uninterrupted. The tools enabling work-from-home and remote closings were not only readily available, but efficient and accessible. This was crucial for us, and our clients, in order to maintain operations during a difficult and uncertain time.  We were also able to help our clients navigate the volume spikes associated with low-interest rates. We continually monitor volumes, market nuances and industry trends to ensure our products – and our staff – meet our clients’ needs. At ServiceLink, we’re flexible with our offerings and can scale up or down as necessitated by industry conditions. This scalability includes our industry-leading signing agent panel. We’ve secured calendar availability from our notary panel at month-end, providing unrestricted closing capacity in many of our lenders’ top markets. At the same time, our dedicated client service teams were able to offer proactive, transaction-level reporting, so lenders could continue communicating effectively with their borrowers. HW: How has the title process evolved as a result of these conditions? DS: Amid high volumes and challenging conditions, borrowers continue to prioritize speed in their transactions. According to the 2021 ServiceLink State of Homebuying Report, 50% of consumers said speed was an important factor in their refinance process. With borrower preferences and our clients’ busy pipelines in mind, we heavily leverage technology in our instant title solution, EXOS Title, for every aspect of title, data aggregation, analysis, production, and curative services, probably more than most mortgage lenders realize. We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars in leading-edge title technology – and our teams of top data scientists, inventors and engineers ensure our processes are as automated as possible. The end result is the ability to deliver clear-to-close commitments instantly.  One specific enhancement we unveiled this year is our EXOS Closing Disclosure (CD) feature. With EXOS CD, “stare and compare” manual processes in the loan closing lifecycle have been automated, reducing the time and effort required for data preparation and ultimately, reducing cycle times and improving quality. Moreover, any revisions that may be needed throughout the closing process can now be processed virtually, with the ability to CD prep within a minute with appropriate workflows.  This year, we also began offering the ability to combine EXOS Title with an option for instant digital closing scheduling with EXOS® Close. Using EXOS Close, consumers and lenders see the exact dates and times signing agents are available and instantly select their preferred date, time and location. Instant scheduling reduces friction associated with closing scheduling – and lenders using EXOS Close have seen an 80% reduction in reschedules. This product combination allows lenders to further streamline their origination process. HW: What are some misconceptions about instant title? DS: One misconception is that title has no impact on the consumer experience. But, as mentioned previously, today’s borrowers expect to close fast, and title can have an impact on the overall length of the closing process. Another area that requires clarification is the importance of searches performed on title grade data to the instant title process. Lenders may believe that it’s impossible to perform title searches and deliver instant title. ServiceLink’s EXOS Title uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to perform title searches and deliver instant title. Quality data is key to the viability of an instant title product. With instant title, you’re leveraging alternate methods to produce a title decision instantly as opposed to relying on more traditional methods that take much more time. We’re setting a new standard by focusing on title-grade data as our primary source, meaning the data is more accurate and more aligned toward the true condition of the title. The industry is trying to move into the instant title space, but it’s imperative that lenders vet the quality of the data that’s being delivered. Because of ServiceLink’s more than 10 years of delivering instant title, our technologies, processes and risk assessments set us apart. HW: How does ServiceLink leverage technology to streamline home equity title and closing? DS: As demand has grown for fast, digital solutions in the home equity space, ServiceLink envisioned how technology could improve the speed and level of service for both the lender and borrower. Our clients – home equity lenders of all sizes – quickly realized the value of our tech-enabled services. Automation is infused through our full suite of title products, from title data at point of sale to uninsured title reports to ALTA products and more. With this wide range of title products, we’re able to fulfill a wide variety of client needs, according to their individual risk appetites. We complement our line of title products by providing a technology-enhanced closing experience. Instant digital closing scheduling with EXOS Close empowers the consumer or lender to schedule their own closing, which increases efficiency. And, it supports virtual closing options for both refinance and home equity loans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  EXOS Inspect is a mobile app that allows borrowers to conduct their own home inspections when a traditional appraisal is not required, such as in home equity lending. EXOS Inspect enhances home equity lenders’ risk management strategies by ensuring they have the most up-to-date information on the house. In fact, the application uses geo-fencing and time-stamping to assure the accuracy of the borrower-submitted inspection. It can be combined with other ServiceLink offerings including

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[ad_1] Uday Devalla, EVP, Chief Technology Officer at Sagent Until recently, mortgage servicing was more about cash-flow math than consumer experience. Finally, customer expectations for both push-button simplicity and smart human advice are changing the game. Consumer-first lifetime retention is now our prevailing theme in servicing, which increases both MSR values and lifetime customer value. But how can servicers convert “customer for life” from theory to practice? According to MBA, industry retention is only 21% because data and communication gaps erode customer trust at the two most important parts of the relationship: (1) when they first go from originations into servicing, and (2) when they need a new loan.  Here’s how servicers can solve both of these problems to create a lifetime customer engagement loop. Cut 18 Days Off The Originations-to-Servicing Transition The transition from originator to servicer is too often a consumer experience hiccup, and must be a primary focus of servicing modernization. Servicers can solve this by automating origination-to-servicing across planning, loading, mapping, converting and testing processes. For example, Sagent’s LoanBoard software cuts 18 days from the origination-to-servicing onboarding process by automating all LOS-to-servicing system processes like loading, mapping, converting and testing. This enables real-time compliance when onboarding new servicing at any scale — and does so with today’s most-used LOS. And critically, it accelerates error identification/fixes which eliminates customer service gaps for borrowers. Customers Spend Months With Originators, Decades With Servicers  Consumer-first servicing modernization isn’t just a catchphrase, it’s a mandate we all must follow in a consumer-led era. This concept hits harder when we view the world from their experience. From where a consumer sits, they spend months in the origination process — 30-90 days on a refi and up to 360 days in a long lead purchase in a market where more than half of deals have bidding wars.  But they can spend decades in servicing — IF servicers are engaging them properly.  Some in our industry joke: “who thinks of their servicer when they need a new loan?” I’m all for jokes, but this one isn’t a laughing matter — it’s the greatest opportunity of this era, and one we take very seriously at Sagent.  We’ve spent the past 12 months rebuilding our consumer-first platform CARE — which stands for Customer Attention, Retention and Engagement — to do four things:  1. Customer Retention: When we think of new loans, this comes in a few forms in the current market: the last of the rate/term refis before rates rise, cash-out refis for both home improvement and debt consolidation, and, of course, new purchase loans. More on purchases and cash-out refis in the Engagement section below. For rate/term, a system like CARE combines real-time UPB and pricing data so you can issue offers that close fast.     2. Engagement: New loans come from enabling borrowers to engage with real-time data about their home and their financial profile. For home-buying, triggers telling you an existing customer has listed their home are too late. Now you can and must let your customers begin their home search on your platform, you see that activity and can therefore be their primary advisor — which includes a pre-approval. Likewise, if they’re engaging with real-time data on their own home, you can prompt them for home-improvement loan offers in real-time based on their actions. And on cash-out debt consolidation, if they can view their credit scores and non-housing debt right in your interface (a white-label of Sagent CARE), then you can give them offers that matter to them right at the moment of intent.   3. Hardship: Thankfully, smart pandemic policy response is leading to a soft landing for homeowner hardships overall, but every loan portfolio will have hardships along the way. And nothing builds customer loyalty like giving your borrowers immediate, easy self-serve tools to get hardship help. Sagent makes it simple for borrowers to apply for help and resolve hardships from their phones, as it was for them to get their loan in the first place.    4. Seamless Customer Service: And going back to my opening paragraph above: customer expectations for both push-button simplicity and smart human advice are changing the game. Self-serve isn’t enough. You also must have your customer service teams on the same platforms, viewing the same UI/UX as your borrowers, whether they’ve got questions about selling their home to buy a new one, or they just lost their job and need human help immediately. Tech that powers unified servicer and consumer collaboration are what brings the consumer-first modernization to reality. The Endgame: A Continuous Servicing-To-Originations Loop    The great news is that this reality is finally coming into focus for servicers as we enter 2022.  The endgame is a continuous loop where tech-powered customer attention, retention and engagement in servicing lead to new originations, which then lead to — and preserve — lifetime servicing.  This is how we optimize positive cash-flow math with lifetime customer experience in servicing.  To learn how Sagent is doing this for our customers, visit Sagent.com or email me directly at uday.devalla@sagentlending.com. The post What role does the servicer play in creating clients for life? appeared first on HousingWire. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Each week, Cut the Crap Investing founder Dale Roberts shares financial headlines and offers context for Canadian investors.  Scotiabank says 8 rate hikes are on the way  Scotiabank’s Derek Holt shared that we could see eight rate hikes in Canada over the next two years. That is aggressive. Rate hikes would likely deflate the real estate market and perhaps stock market and, by design, put a brake on personal spending and on economic activity.  Increased borrowing costs can mean less money available for consumption.  From the Financial Post article: “Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem will begin a series of eight 25-basis-point hikes in July of next year, Scotiabank’s Derek Holt said Wednesday on BNN Bloomberg Television. That will be followed by moves in September, October, and December. Holt predicted the the pace of tightening would then slow, with quarterly moves in 2023 bringing the policy rate to 2.25% by the end of that year.” Of course, central banks will use the rate-hike weapon to battle inflation; and those inflation worries are gathering steam. The Bank of Canada signalled that it will put an end to the bond buying program known as quantitative easing.  Previously we looked at that tapering and what a taper tantrum is. We do know that historically, an aggressive increase in rates usually will lead to stock market corrections and recessions. Here’s the go-to chart on that event, courtesy of Lance Roberts, Chief Strategist RIA Advisors.   Of course, no one knows that will happen with rates and bond yields or the stock markets in the near term. The key is to be aware and prepared.  We should always be prepared for corrections—that is, be emotionally prepared. And the portfolio should be balanced to be able to temper the volatility and protect your wealth, as well, if you are in retirement or are nearing retiring.  That can mean holding those out of favour bonds, as I wrote last week. In fact, Roberts suggested—in an email exchange and in counter-intuitive fashion—the time to buy longer-term treasuries is when we see those first rate hikes. If those do kill the economy and end the stock-market party, it will be bonds time to shine—again.  I would not favour any market timing. I already have core bond funds, short-term bond funds and longer-date treasuries in my portfolios. I’ll be happy to hold my nose and add some more over the next few months or year.  It’s called portfolio rebalancing.  Many investors favour those shorter-dated bonds, as they will usually fall in price less than longer-dated bonds in a period of rising rates. And those shorter-dated bond funds will also more quickly add the higher yields that are available in the market—as bonds in the fund mature and are replaced.  There’s nothing wrong with holding core bond funds you find in core couch potato portfolios. However, core bond funds will come under pressure in a rising rate environment.  I asked Martin Pelletier, portfolio manager at Wellington-Altus Private Counsel, for his opinion on the potential of rising rates and the messaging from The Bank of Canada. Read this from our email exchange:   “I think it was a prudent move from the Bank of Canada, as it could slow down an overheated housing market causing already over-levered households to reconsider additional real estate speculation. It also sends a clear message to the federal government that it’s soon time for them to be accountable for their balance sheet.” And, Pelletier also pointed to the risk for that conservative, and traditional, 60/40 portfolio.  “Rising rates will also have a negative impact on those conservative investors in fixed-income investments. This also creates the same problem for the traditional 60/40 investor.” I like how Horizons did a re-think of the traditional balanced portfolio. They ramped up the equity exposure slightly (10%) and added some other assets.  Given these times, Pelletier will alter the fixed-income strategy and assets for clients. He added:  “For example, we now have the lowest bond weighting allowed in our client portfolios and are replacing with equity-linked, custom-built notes that have yields above inflation rates and built-in downside barriers. We have been reducing other interest-rate sensitive investments like the tech-heavy S&P 500 and reallocating to global value.” The incredible value and potential in oil and gas sector  The energy story just won’t go away, and many investors (and drivers) have had just about enough pain at the pumps. On the other side of the coin (or other side of the pumps) energy investors are raking it in. And there is a loud chorus suggesting that the profits will continue to flow for oil and gas energy producers.  Not advice, but I had put energy producers on the table for investors over a year ago. That’s also about 140% ago (positive total returns) as well over the last year, using the TSX Capped Energy Index as a benchmark.  Look no further than the recent returns from energy producers.  Out-of-favour Suncor (SU) reported this week and the free cash flow was more than impressive. While it missed estimates, Suncor delivered revenue of $10.21 billion, an increase of 58% year over year. From its quarterly report and by way of Seeking Alpha.  The company recorded operating earnings of $1.043 billion ($0.71 per common share) in the third quarter of 2021, compared to an operating loss of $338 million ($0.22 per common share) in the prior year quarter. The company had net earnings of $877 million ($0.59 per common share) in the third quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of $12 million ($0.01 per common share) in the prior year quarter. With ample free cash flow they were able to retire debt at a good clip. The shareholder return is more than impressive.  In the third quarter of 2021, the company returned $1.0 billion to its shareholders, through $704 million in share repurchases and payment of $309 million of dividends, and it reduced net debt by $2.0 billion.  Suncor recently doubled and restored its dividend to