Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday.
- According to our latest reporting, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage currently sits at 6.73%, a slight increase from 6.65%, where it sat on March 3, 2023. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage sits at 5.95%, up from 5.89%, the earlier March rate.
- As we’ve reported, mortgage rates first increased to over 7% in October 2022, the highest rate in over two decades. After peaking at 7.24% that month, this trend reversed into a decline that continued until January 2023, when rates began to rise again, climbing for the past five weeks.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has indicated that the Fed could pursue “aggressive” interest rate increases to combat inflation—which could, in turn, drive mortgage rates higher still.
- Mortgage applications enjoyed an upswing after four weeks of decline, with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Survey reporting a week-over-week increase in applications of 7.4%.
- The increase in applications was spurred in part by governmental assistance. The seasonally adjusted government index increased almost 13% week-over-week.
- Meanwhile, the number of FHA-backed mortgages increased to 12.8%, slightly higher than the previous week’s 12%.
- In its Q4 2022 earnings call, California-based mortgage lending company LoanDepot reported losses of $0.46 per share compared to parent company Zacks Financial’s “Consensus Estimate” of a $0.26 loss.
- LoanDepot also reported a net loss of $156.8 million in Q4, greater than the $137.5 million loss in the previous quarter. To stave off further loss, the company reduced expenses by $91.4 million.
- AngelOak Mortgage Solutions, based in Atlanta, Georgia, posted a net loss of $8.8 million in Q4 2022. This was a substantial narrowing of Q3 losses, which numbered $83.3 million.
The FTC is intervening to block a merger between mortgage technology providers Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc. on antitrust grounds.
