Industry News

News:Industry News

Mortgage Relief Is Only for Those Who’ve Lost Jobs, Mnuchin Says: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said only homeowners who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus crisis will qualify for new government programs that let borrowers put off mortgage payments. learn more

Homeland Security Says Real Estate is ‘Essential Business’: As the real estate industry remains split on whether the services it provides are “essential” during a pandemic, one federal agency has weighed in with an emphatic “yes.” learn more

Coronavirus Poses New Threat to Mortgage Industry: “There have been plenty of natural disasters where this system performs well,” said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association. learn more

Mortgage Industry Seeks Billions in Federal Help as Homeowners Stop Paying Their Loans: Without federal assistance, said Bob Broeksmit, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, a large industry trade group, some mortgage servicers say they could go out of business within a few months, potentially making it more difficult for homeowners to secure mortgage relief as the U.S. economy grinds to a halt to contain the growing pandemic. learn more

Homeowners Who Can’t Pay their Mortgages are Getting Help: Major lenders are offering a moratorium on payments for borrowers who have lost their jobs or been furloughed from work. learn more

Mortgage Closings at Risk as Coronavirus Shutters Title and Recording Offices: State, county and local governments have shut down or are limiting the number of people who may enter their offices, including property recording centers. learn more

Potential Wave of Mortgage Delinquencies Could Bankrupt the Payment System: The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates about a quarter of all borrowers request and are granted loan forbearance for six months or longer, demands on servicers could exceed $75 billion and could climb well above $100 billion learn more

Weekly Mortgage Applications Activity Drop Over 8% as Interest Rates Jump Briefly: A sudden spike in mortgage rates caused an abrupt end to the recent refinance boom, pushing total mortgage application volume down 8.4% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. learn more

As the Coronavirus Spreads, a Question: ‘Will Mortgage Rates Stay Low?’: Rates will “likely stabilize but remain low for now,” said Joel Kan, associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting at the Mortgage Bankers Association, which should help borrowers seeking to refinance or buy a home this spring. learn more

Lenders Are Deluged With Refinance Requests as Coronavirus Sends Rates Lower: Record low mortgage rates are delivering more refinancing demand than some lenders can handle. learn more

Wall Street’s Bond Rally Isn’t Lowering Mortgage Rates on Main Street: The epic bond rally on Wall Street isn’t trickling down to Main Street in the form of significantly lower mortgage interest rates. learn more

Fear Isn’t the Only Driver of the Treasury Rally: Banks Need to Hedge Their Mortgages: Banks need to buy around $1.2 trillion of 10-year Treasurys to offset risks on mortgages and bank deposits. learn more

Homeowners Are in a Frenzy to Refinance as Mortgage Rates Nose-Dive: The 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped to its lowest level in more than seven years last week, amidst increasing concerns regarding the economic impact from the spread of the coronavirus, as well as the tremendous financial market volatility. learn more

Mortgage Lenders are Hiring Like Mad to Handle Demand as Rates Plunge: Executives at four of the nation’s 15 biggest mortgage lenders, already gearing up for a busy 2020, anticipate hiring thousands of employees this year to keep up with what they expect to be a flood of demand for purchase loans and refinancings. learn more

Mortgage Rates Just Hit an 8-Year Low. Here’s Why They’re Not Even Lower: Mortgage rates are not falling quite as fast as Treasury yields, because of the swiftness of the declines and the resulting risk to investors in mortgage-backed bonds. learn more

Mortgage Rates Head Back Down on Coronavirus Fears: Volatility in the financial markets did not move mortgage rates much this week. learn more

Mortgage Rates are Plunging With the Financial Markets, But Why Aren’t They Even Lower?: Amid a wave of selling in the stock market driven by coronavirus concerns, the 10-year Treasury note, a key bellwether for mortgage rates, plunged to a record low of 1.31 percent on Tuesday, breaking a low set in July 2016. learn more

The 10-Year Treasury Yield Sets a New All-Time Low–Here’s Why: A day after U.S. stock benchmarks recorded their biggest one-day selloff in two years, investors are taking shelter in the deepest, most liquid haven asset in the world: U.S. Treasurys. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell 4.9 basis points to trade at 1.328% on Tuesday. learn more

Coronavirus Fears Could Push Mortgage Rates Past 4-Year Low: As coronavirus fears hit financial markets, U.S. bond yields are tanking, pushing mortgage rates that loosely follow the 10-year Treasury yield toward a four-year low. learn more

GSEs May be Freed with Treasury Backstop, Mnuchin Says: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to retain “limited and tailored government support” after they are freed from U.S. control, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a letter to lawmakers seeking information on the Trump administration’s plans for the mortgage giants. learn more

Mortgage Rates Hover Near Record Lows, But Americans Pay Much More: Mortgage rates are now hovering near all-time lows, causing a spike in refinancing in January. learn more

Refinance mortgage applications reach highest level since 2013 ?: Refinance application activity last week was the highest in nearly seven years, with more than triple the volume from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. learn more

Mortgage Investors Brace for Coming Wave of Loan Refinancings: With the 30-year mortgage rate just 14 basis points above its all-time low of 3.31% seen in November 2012, mortgage-backed security investors are bracing themselves for a wave of refinancings in the coming months. learn more

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Refinance Your Mortgage: Refinance loan volume jumped to the highest level since 2013 last week, especially among jumbo mortgage borrowers, on the heels of lower mortgage rates, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. learn more

Falling Rates Could Boost Mortgages Ahead of Spring Selling Season: Mortgage rates are at their lowest level in more than three years, potentially boosting the U.S. housing market as it enters the crucial spring selling season. learn more

Fixed Mortgage Rates Hit Three-Year Lows But May be Headed Higher Soon: Fixed mortgage rates sank to their lowest level in three years on fears about the economic impact of the coronavirus. learn more

Iowa Bankers Insurance & Services (IBIS) offers Iowa banks a full line of insurance products.

The Iowa Bankers Association (IBA) is dedicated to serving Iowa banks and their employees.