COVID-19 Outbreak Now Impacting U.S. Mortgage Industry

WORLD PROPERTY JOURNAL | April 01, 2020

According to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 27, 2020, U.S. mortgage applications increased 15.3 percent from one week earlier. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 15.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 15 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 26 percent from the previous week and was 168 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 11 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 10 percent compared with the previous week and was 24 percent lower than the same week one year ago. Mortgage rates and applications continue to experience significant volatility from the economic and financial market uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis. After two weeks of sizeable increases, mortgage rates dropped back to the lowest level in MBA's survey, which in turn led to a 25 percent jump in refinance applications," said Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. "The bleaker economic outlook, along with the first wave of realized job losses reported in last week's unemployment claims numbers, likely caused potential homebuyers to pull back. Purchase applications were down over 10 percent, and after double-digit annual growth to start 2020, activity has fallen off last year's pace for two straight weeks.

Spotlight

Spotlight

Related News

Real Estate Investment

Green Street Launches Seamless Commercial Real Estate Data Delivery on Snowflake Marketplace

PRnewswire | August 22, 2023

Green Street, the preeminent provider of actionable commercial real estate intelligence and analytics, has partnered with Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, to deliver real-time U.S. and Pan-European commercial real estate intelligence on Snowflake Marketplace. "Green Street is committed to delivering seamlessly connected commercial real estate data, analytics, research and news on both the public and private real estate markets in various formats," said John Guilfoy, Chief Product Officer for Green Street. "This collaboration gives clients yet another means to easily extract extensive time series data and predictive analytics – such as cap rates, market grades, and forecasts – and seamlessly integrate them into their own company models, internal systems, and daily workflows. We are excited to partner with Snowflake for this new method of data delivery." Some key Snowflake capabilities include: • Systematic updates: New data and analytics are promptly reflected in Snowflake. • Integrations: Market participants can connect to their company's preferred integrations, including BI/dashboarding tools, internal databases and more. Snowflake Marketplace simplifies discovery, access, and the commercialization of data products, enabling companies to unlock entirely new revenue streams and extended insights across the Data Cloud. To learn more about Snowflake Marketplace click here. About Green Street Green Street is the preeminent provider of actionable commercial real estate research, news, data, analytics, and advisory services in the U.S. and Europe. For more than 35 years, Green Street has delivered unparalleled intelligence and trusted data on the public and private real estate markets, helping investors, banks, lenders, and other industry participants optimize investment and strategic decisions. The firm delivers exclusive market information, conclusion-driven insights, and predictive analytics through a SaaS platform.

Read More

Real Estate Technology, Real Estate Investment

SouthPoint Financial Services Creates New Real Estate Division Powered By Newzip

PRnewswire | July 27, 2023

SouthPoint Financial Services (SPFS), a full-service mortgage lender operating in 16 states, today announced a partnership with Newzip, a tech-enabled real estate solutions platform. Newzip brings seamless, RESPA-compliant real estate services to SPFS, matching pre-approved borrowers with experienced agents to find homes then providing cash rewards when SPFS borrowers close on home purchases. Here's how the new SPFS Preferred Partners Program powered by Newzip works: SPFS customers can now receive real estate advice tailored to their needs from a dedicated Newzip Home Advisor team that helps them throughout their entire home search, offer-writing, transaction, closing, and moving process. Once SPFS pre-approves a customer for a home purchase loan, Newzip's advanced algorithms and data analytics match home buyers with the most suitable real estate agents across their national network of trusted professionals. When SPFS mortgage customers opt into this program, they can save 1% on the sell side and 0.5% on the buy side as a closing credit decreasing their required cash-to-close in rebate eligible states. Throughout the home buying and financing process, the Newzip platform keeps SPFS loan officers, borrowers, Newzip home advisors, and real estate agents seamlessly connected. "Adding Newzip real estate services and technology to SouthPoint Financial's fast, friendly mortgage team creates a one-stop shop for our home-buying customers," said SouthPoint Financial Services CEO Mindy Rothenberger. "This partnership helps us double down on our mission to remove all barriers of home ownership and solve all the mysteries of home lending and buying. It adds personalized guidance at every step, giving our customers a confident, informed home buying journey from start to finish." The SPFS/Newzip partnership is a shared commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions, delivering a seamless, efficient, cost-saving journey to homebuyers across America. "Integrating Newzip's platform into SPFS's mortgage experience will not only elevate the home buying/selling experience, but also makes it more affordable for borrowers in this challenging market," said Newzip CEO Adi Pavlovic. "We're thrilled to power real estate services for SPFS and innovate together in the mortgage industry." About Newzip Newzip is a real estate platform that empowers mortgage lenders to deliver an end-to-end customer experience. Leveraging a combination of technology and human empathy, Newzip's vision is to create the standard for a modern real estate experience that helps people make informed decisions throughout their entire journey. About SouthPoint Financial Services SouthPoint Financial Services (SPFS) is a full-service, Georgia-based mortgage lender offering government-backed and conventional loans. SPFS is one of the few mortgage lenders that handle every step of the process with in-house processing, underwriting, and document preparation. SPFS's mission is to remove all barriers to homeownership, answer all the questions, and solve all the mysteries of home lending.

Read More

Brokerage, Real Estate Investment

Voxtur Announces Closing of Non-Brokered Private Placement of Units

Yahoo Finance | August 09, 2023

Voxtur Analytics Corp. ("Voxtur" or the "Company"), a North American technology company creating a more transparent and accessible real estate lending ecosystem, is pleased to announce, further to the releases issued on June 26, 2023, and August 2, 2023, the closing of an additional $6,448,353 of gross proceeds from a non-brokered private placement of units (the “Offering”). With respect to recent prior private placements, the Company closed on $3,052,699 of Units on June 26, 2023, and another $942,000 of Units on August 2, 2023, for an aggregate amount of $10,443,052 of gross proceeds closed under the offerings. The Offering consists of a non-brokered private placement of units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.20 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (each, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of $0.20 expiring on June 26, 2028. The Company has agreed that following the closing it will apply to the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) to list the Warrants, subject to meeting the applicable distribution and listing requirements of the TSXV. The Company may issue up to an additional $9.55 million of Units pursuant to the Offering, though there is no assurance that additional commitments will be received by the Company or that additional closings under the Offering will be completed. Any such closings that are completed are subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSXV. The proceeds from the Offering will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a four month and a day hold period from the date of issue in accordance with applicable securities laws. Further, the listing of the Warrants is subject to the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSXV. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the benefit or account of U.S. persons, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. About Voxtur Voxtur is a transformational real estate technology company that is redefining industry standards in a dynamic lending environment. The Company offers targeted data analytics to simplify tax solutions, property valuation and settlement services throughout the lending lifecycle for investors, lenders, government agencies and servicers. Voxtur's proprietary data hub and workflow platforms more accurately and efficiently value assets, originate and service loans, securitize portfolios and evaluate tax assessments. The Company serves the property lending and property tax sectors, both public and private, in the United States and Canada.

Read More