Pretium and Värde Partners announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Pretium to acquire Deephaven Mortgage LLC from Värde Partners.

Founded in 2012, Deephaven is a leader in the Non-Qualified Mortgage industry. The company partnered with Värde in 2014 to fund its growth and expansion and, over the past 5 years, has invested in over $4 billion of Non-QM loans to become one of the leading issuers of Non-QM securitizations.

Pretium is an alternative investment management firm focused on residential real estate, mortgage credit and corporate credit with more than $10 billion in assets under management. Pretium is the largest private single-family rental owner and operator in the U.S., with over 32,000 homes across 15 high-growth markets. As the single-family rental industry has evolved into a distinct, institutionalized real estate asset class, Pretium has built an in-house real estate platform, Progress Residential, which manages Pretium’s single-family rental homes and has over 800 employees. In addition to Pretium’s single-family rental platform, Pretium has invested in its mortgage credit strategy, which has acquired over 31,000 loans with a collective unpaid principal balance of $5.7 billion, and separately owns over 1,700 rental homes.

Donald Mullen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pretium, said, “We are excited to be acquiring one of the most established leaders in the Non-QM market and we expect the business to benefit from working closely with Pretium’s existing single-family rental and mortgage credit businesses. Deephaven is a synergistic, natural extension of Pretium’s existing strategies in single-family rentals and mortgage credit, within our residential credit ecosystem.”

Värde is a leading investor in commercial and residential mortgages including new originations and secondary investments in commercial and residential loans and portfolios, securities, and servicing platforms.

Brian Schmidt, Partner and Head of Mortgages and North America Real Estate at Värde, said, “Värde has deep experience in the U.S. mortgage market, having invested across a range of mortgage assets and platforms over the past 20+ years. Following a strong partnership with Deephaven, we are pleased to see Deephaven joining the Pretium family of companies. Our Financial Services team played an integral role in the value creation and sale process, where Pretium distinguished itself as the optimal partner to support Deephaven’s continued growth and success.”

Matt Nichols, Founder and CEO of Deephaven, added, “Deephaven was founded to serve the millions of credit worthy borrowers, who would otherwise have been excluded from the mortgage market. We are grateful for Värde’s partnership in helping us build and establish a leadership position in the Non-QM market. We are excited to join Pretium, continuing a tradition of partnering with organizations that share our vision for the mortgage market and commitment to responsible lending. We look forward to our partnership and the opportunity it will afford us to continue our leadership position in the high-growth Non-QM market.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second half of 2019.

Wells Fargo Securities served as financial advisor to Deephaven and Värde. Mayer Brown LLP served as legal counsel to Deephaven and Värde. Nomura Securities International, Inc. served as financial advisor to Pretium. Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to Pretium.

ClosingCorp, a leading provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technology for the mortgage and real estate services industries, today announced that ithas integrated its SmartFees^®service with Wipro Gallagher Solutions (WGS), a Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) company and a leading provider of loan origination software (LOS) solutions. This integration will now provide lenders using Wipro’s NetOxygen LOS platform with instant access to SmartFees’ real-time third-party provider rates and fees covering over 20,000 service providers.

ClosingCorp’s SmartFees integrates loan file information, transfer tax and recording data, service provider fees from more than 70,000 rate cards, and lender business rules and requirements into a single, seamless process and platform—allowing clients to originate mortgages confidently and compliantly.

“This integration enables our NetOxygen LOS to provide our clients with easily delivered real-time, accurate rates and fees for loan estimates and closing documents while streamlining the lender’s workflow,” said Scott Dunn, Head of Product Management and Strategy, Wipro Gallagher Solutions, Wipro Limited. “Being able to leverage SmartFees will also enhance our ability to deliver a higher, dependable level of compliance while lowering our exposure to potential TRID violations from the beginning of the loan origination cycle.”

“Integrating our configurable fee solution with Wipro enables a compliant environment while creating a much more efficient and transparent experience across the board,” said Bob Jennings, CEO of ClosingCorp. “Our mutual customers will find this integration makes it easier than ever for them to move loans forward with fewer manual touches—reducing operating costs, mitigating risk and further improving the consumer experience.”

May home sales ticked slightly higher year-over-year, ending a 9-month streak of declines, according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report. At the same time, inventory grew for the eighth consecutive month, representing the most units for sale since August 2016 in the report's 54 metro areas.

Homes sold quickly, as evident in the Days on Market average of 47 – the second-fastest May average in the 10-year history of the report. And home sales increased 15.3% from April to May – the second-highest April-May jump in report history.

Home sales were up 0.4% over May 2018 - the first year-over-year gain since July 2018. The number of homes for sale increased 4.9% year-over-year to set a report record for the highest May growth. However, based on the pace of home sales, May's 2.6 Months of Inventory was down compared to April's 2.8 months and the 2.9 months of May 2018.

The Median Sales Price of $259,500 was up 3.4% year-over-year, representing the lowest May increase since 2011.

"The spring selling season was in full bloom during the month of May, offering both buyers and sellers something to like," said RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos. "Buyers are generally finding increased selection along with moderating price increases.  At the same time, in general, sellers are selling their homes quickly while still enjoying some price gains. Bottom line, the market is operating efficiently right now, and homes are selling, on average, at a good clip."

Closed Transactions 
Of the 54 metro areas surveyed in May 2019, the overall average number of home sales is up 15.3% compared to April 2019, and up 0.4% compared to May 2018. Leading the month-over-month sales increase were Billings, MT at +64.2%, Burlington, VT at +61.6%, and Minneapolis, MN at +35.8%.

Median Sales Price – Median of 54 metro median prices 
In May 2019, the median of all 54 metro Median Sales Prices was $259,500, up 3.3% from April 2019, and up 3.4% from May 2018. Three metro areas saw a year-over-year decrease in Median Sales Price: San Francisco, CA at -5.1%, Honolulu, HI at -3.2%, and Billings, MT at  -1.6%. Three metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages: Milwaukee, WI at +14.2%, Boise, ID at +13.6%, and Albuquerque, NM at +10.2%.

Days on Market – Average of 54 metro areas 
The average Days on Market for homes sold in May 2019 was 47, down five days from the average in April 2019, and up two days from the May 2018 average. The metro areas with the lowest Days on Market were Omaha, NE at 25, and San Francisco, CA and Denver, CO, both at 26. The highest Days on Market averages were in Augusta, ME at 106, Miami, FL at 87, and Hartford, CT at 84. Days on Market is the number of days between when a home is first listed in an MLS and a sales contract is signed.

Months Supply of Inventory – Average of 54 metro areas 
The number of homes for sale in May 2019 was up 4.5% from April 2019 and up 4.9% from May 2018. Based on the rate of home sales in May 2019, the Months Supply of Inventory decreased to 2.6 from 2.8 in April 2019, and decreased compared to 2.9 in May 2018. A six months supply indicates a market balanced equally between buyers and sellers. In May 2019, of the 54 metro areas surveyed, only Miami, FL at 6.2 reported a months supply at or over six. The markets with the lowest Months Supply of Inventory were Boise, ID at 1.2, Omaha, NE at 1.3, and Manchester, NH and San Francisco, CA, both at 1.4.