Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday afternoon.
- How high will they go? That’s likely a question on a few minds as mortgage rates once again trend upward to their highest levels in 14 years. After jumping 28 basis points, Freddie Mac’s chief economist Sam Khater highlighted the cooling effect the recent spike will have on the housing market.
- Despite rates passing 6% the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that mortgage applications increased 3.8% from the previous week MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, Joel Kan indicated that the weekly gain “underscores the overall volatility” in the mortgage rate environment.
- Fannie Mae revised their 2022 and 2023 projections as elevated inflation, a hawkish Fed response and mortgage rates exacerbate the affordability crisis. Forecasts predict 2022 originations are $2.44 trillion—down from $2.47 trillion. Predictions for 2023 mortgage originations were revised from $2.29 trillion to $2.17 trillion.
- Like the iconic scene out of Jerry Maguire, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is saying “help me, help you” to the public as the agency tries to spruce up several mortgage products for borrowers. The agency is looking for public input and feedback that could lead to the creation of new mortgage products that can better support households.
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation are taking legal action against two defendants that allegedly scammed borrowers out of $6 million. National Mortgage News reported that the FTC complaint claims Roger Scott Dyer and Dominic Ahiga charged upfront fees for loan relief that in “numerous instances” they failed to deliver.
