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Ellie Mae Lands CFO

Ellie Mae has selected Dan Madden to serve as executive vice president and chief financial officer. “I am excited to join Ellie Mae at such a pivotal time for the company,” said Madden. “Ellie Mae has been an industry leader for two decades and I’m thrilled to join the seasoned team as we continue on… Read more...

Will Negative Economic Trends Continue?

It’s too soon to know if the current negative trends, such as limited housing supply and the effect of higher rates, which have defined the mortgage market in 2018 will continue into next year. On the other hand, it is possible that the market will adjust and resume modest growth, according to the November Forecast… Read more...

Good News on Delinquencies

Mortgage delinquencies fell by 8.2 percent in October are now down by nearly 18 percent from the same time last year. Serious delinquencies, loans 90 or more days past due, fell by 14,000 from last month, and 90,000 year over year, a 12-year low. Improvements in hurricane-related delinquencies associated with Harvey and Irma, which spiked… Read more...

NAR Supports FHFA Loan Level Increases

The National Association of Realtors supports the FHFA’s decision to increase the loan limit on conforming loans to $484,350 in 2019, from $453,100. In addition, the high-cost limit will rise to $726,525, from $679,650. As a result, loan limits will be higher in all but 47 counties or county equivalents across the country beginning on … Read more...

FHFA: House Prices Increase 1.3%

House prices rose 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2018, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. House prices rose 6.3 percent from the third quarter of 2018 to the third quarter of 2017. FHFA's seasonally adjusted monthly index for September was up 0.2 percent from August. The HPI is calculated … Read more...

How the Number 1 Can Destroy Your Mortgage Business

By Brian Sacks While we all strive to be number one in everything we do, I think it’s important that we take a step back and actually look at that number in a different way. Use it to identify vulnerabilities in the way we do business—and address them. Now is a time for planning, for… Read more...

Amazon-Ellie Create Partnership

Ellie Mae Inc. has decided to move its infrastructure to Amazon Web Services—with the intention of rebuilding its core applications, creating new digital products that support lenders needs for efficiency. Amazon Web Services is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms. Ellie Mae will use AWS services, including computing, storage, database, and… Read more...

NAR Economist: Time for Fed to Re-Evaluate Monetary Policy

With the cost of home ownership on the rise, it’s time for the Federal Reserve to reconsider its approach to monetary policy. The average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 4.83 percent in October from 4.63 percent in September, according to Freddie Mac. The average commitment rate for all of 2017… Read more...

Americans Love Hosting Thanksgiving, Despite Stress, Costs

Hosting Thanksgiving can be stressful, expensive and time-consuming for hosts, though most of them think it's worth it. Hosts will entertain an average of 11 dinner guests, spend an average of $251.11 on the meal, and buy an average of $83.23 worth of housewares like dishes, serving ware and decorations, according to LendingTree's 2018 Thanksgiving… Read more...

Regulators Propose Increasing Appraisal Thresholds

Mortgage regulators have proposed that the threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal be raised to $400,000. The Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. developed the proposal. They think the increase, from the $250,000 current level set in 1995, could provide relief from the time and… Read more...

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