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Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 29, 2020) — Mortgage applications increased 7.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 24, 2020. This week’s results include an adjustment for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 8 percent from the previous week and was 146 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 17 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

“Mortgage applications continued their strong start to the year, as borrowers acted on the drop in mortgage rates last week. Rates were driven lower by investors’ increased concern about the economic impact from China’s coronavirus outbreak, in addition to existing concerns over trade and other geopolitical risks,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “With the 30-year fixed rate at its lowest level since November 2016, refinances jumped 7.5 percent. Purchase applications grew 2 percent and were 17 percent higher than the same week last year. Thanks to low rates and the healthy job market, purchase activity continues to run stronger than in 2019.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 60.4 percent of total applications from 61.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.7 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 10.7 percent from 11.3 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 11.7 percent from 13.8 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.5 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) decreased to 3.81 percent from 3.87 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $510,400) decreased to 3.78 percent from 3.87 percent, with points decreasing to 0.2 from 0.21 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.82 percent from 3.78 percent, with points increasing to 0.27 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.24 percent from 3.25 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.15 percent from 3.29 percent, with points decreasing to 0.12 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

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Newfi Lending Names OptifiNow as its Cloud-Based Sales and Marketing Platform

OptifiNow’s innovative technology platform to provide rapidly growing wholesale mortgage lender with a single solution for sales, marketing and business intelligence.

SEAL BEACH, Calif. – Newfi Lending has named OptifiNow as its integrated cloud-based sales and marketing platform to help manage the growth of their rapidly expanding wholesale mortgage lending business. OptifiNow provides mortgage companies with a comprehensive suite of sales and marketing modules that will manage the growth of Newfi’s wholesale mortgage lending business to manage their mortgage broker base, send targeted marketing messages and monitor performance in real-time.

“Newfi Lending had a record-breaking 2019 and we’re looking to continue our growth in 2020. Managing our sales and marketing more efficiently is one of our major New Year’s resolutions,” said Steve Abreu, founder and CEO of Newfi Lending. “OptifiNow has all the sales and marketing automation tools we need. They also have a tight integration with our LOS, which keeps our customer records up-to-date and allows us to track detailed production volume. OptifiNow goes beyond just sales and marketing by giving us real insight on our business performance.”

Since 2015, OptifiNow has provided mortgage companies with an innovative platform of software solutions for empowering their revenue growth through comprehensive sales and marketing automation and management. With support for all types of mortgage lending – retail, wholesale, consumer direct, correspondent and reverse – OptifiNow is uniquely equipped to handle the needs of any mortgage lending organization.

“We’re excited to partner with Newfi Lending and help them as they grow their wholesale business,” said John McGee, founder and CEO of OptifiNow. “Newfi is a tech-focused lender, so we’re confident we can help them scale their sales and marketing operations in 30 days or less.  We combine our cloud-based platform with easy-to-use tools, intelligent integrations and powerful business analytics to deliver a fully configured solution designed for their business.”

 

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Tom Hunt DOBI Asst. Director Banking Division Retiring after 30 years in Government Service.

From the Desk of E. Robert Levy, Esq.
Tom Hunt will be retiring as Assistant Director, Banking Division, at the Department of Banking and Insurance after almost 30 years of government service in New Jersey. Tom has been a key player in the Department’s supervision and regulation of mortgage bankers and brokers and worked closely with us in drafting the amendments to RMLA that included changes in the allowable fees and charges that eliminated the use of “discount points’ to describe “points” and added transitional licensing (a/k/a ‘”temporary authority”) as one of the first States to do so.
Tom has also been Chairman of the Department's Residential Mortgage and Consumer Finance Advisory Board that I am privileged to sit on. He has kept the Board focused and helped to make our Board more productive in achieving recommendations beneficial to both the Department and Industry. It is an example of how beneficial a private sector and public “partnership” can be.
Tom intends to stay active in the private sector and will be a resource for the MBANJ in dealing with both regulatory and legislative matters on behalf of our members. I look forward to continuing to work with Tom in this regard.
I look forward as well to our continuing relationship with the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, Marlene Caride, Richard Mumford, Acting Banking Division Director and other Division personnel.
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