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.
-Ratings agency Fitch downgraded both U.S. government debt and Fannie and Freddie, in a move that rattled financial markets and is likely to put more upward pressure on mortgage rates. It is unclear how significant these effects will be, though the 30-year fixed reached 6.9% this week, according to Freddie.
–A new study by LendingTree found that Black homebuyers are significantly more likely to be denied a mortgage—rejected 5.3% more often than the overall population. The denial rate was higher in some metros, reaching as high as 20% in some cities.
–Rocket Companies, which includes Rocket Mortgage, announced a leadership shakeup, with veteran fintech executive Varun Krishna taking the reins as CEO, while Bob Walters, CEO of Rocket Mortgage, is retiring. Krishna most recently worked at tax preparation giant Intuit, while Bob Walters had served as CEO since 2017.
–The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released a proposed update to so-called “face-to-face” requirements for mortgage servicers to fulfill outreach mandates, which would permanently codify some of the adjustments made during the pandemic. The FHA is accepting comments on the proposal through September 29.
-Reporting Q2 earnings, both Fannie and Freddie saw big increases in net income, with Fannie up $1.2 billion from last quarter and Freddie up a little more than $1 billion.
–A proposal by the Federal Reserve to increase capital requirements for larger banks is drawing pushback from the mortgage industry, with industry leaders arguing it could disincentivize lending for first-time homebuyers as well as impact jumbo loans, according to National Mortgage News.
