Daily Rates & Headlines
For 12/28/2022
Here are my interest rate observations from this morning.
| Today’s Par Rate* | Charge (1st rate above 1% Charge) |
Yesterday’s Par Rate* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest Rate 6.75% |
APR 6.841% |
1.024% | Interest Rate 6.625% |
APR 6.714% |
||
| *Rate Scenario Details: Purchase, 30 Year Fixed, Conventional, $500,000 Purchase, $400,000 Loan, 80% LTV, 41% DTI, Income=$7,500, Primary Residence, Single Family, 84045 Zip Code, FICO=780, Escrows=Yes, Fees Out, Expiration=30 days. | ||||||
| Daily Rate Sheet Compare | Comparison Rate* | Difference | Today | Yesterday | ||
| Higher | 7.000% | 0.046 | 0.516 | 0.47 | ||
| Higher | MBS Price Current Day 7:45AM MST |
MBS Price -1/32 |
10 Year Treasury 3.83% |
|||
| Higher | MBS Price Yesterday Close |
MBS Price -15/32 |
10 Year Treasury 3.84% |
|||
| Rate Influence | Economic Report | Actual | Expected | Prior | ||
| Pending Home Sales Index | -0.5% | -4.6% | ||||
|
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Headlines & Comments
The title insurance industry prepares for battle
(HousingWireby Brooklee Han). With the housing market slowing down from its pandemic-fueled frenzy, wire fraud threats, regulatory challenges and the perennial challenge of an aging workforce, the title insurance industry will have a lot to juggle in the new year.
The housing market slows down. Many in the title insurance industry reported record years in 2021, but while experts were predicting things to slow down in 2022, the suddenness at which the market cooled was unexpected, or as Jodi Ketchersid, a Destin, Florida-based Corcoran Group agent said: “It was like, ‘Holy cow! What happened to the market?'”
As a result, many title firms have found revenue coming from different sources, including stronger than expected commercial revenue and other mortgage products such as home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
Wire fraud. In mid-November, the Federal Bureau of Investigations released its 2022 Congressional report on business email compromise (BEC) and real estate wire fraud. According to the report, in 2021, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received BEC-related complaints with claimed losses exceeding $2.4 billion, far higher than the $360 million in claimed losses recorded in 2016.
What’s old is new again: the resurgence of attorney opinion letters. In early April, Fannie Mae sent shock waves through the title insurance industry when it announced that it would be accepting written opinion letters from an attorney in lieu of a title insurance policy “in limited circumstances. The announcement meant that Fannie Mae joined the other GSE, Freddie Mac, in accepting AOLs.
Title insurance’s aging workforce. As of 2014 the average age of title insurance agents and brokers was around 60 years old, and the situation has not improved much, if at all. The report, which was distributed in August 2022, found that 67% of respondents were over the age of 45, with the largest age brackets being 45-54 and 55-64 at 28% each. The second largest age bracket was 35-44 at 19%.
Direct’s Comment
At the end of the day, why does a title company charge so much money? Isn’t there a way to reduce their fees? When one considers all that a title company is paid for, they are simply selling insurance that the seller actually owns the property. And they can do that for much less money than they currently do that for. But recording fees, document preparation, wire fees, and couriers, and many other fees are really what the lender is responsible for. Watch for us (DMC) to cut out this waste and truly reduce what a title company is actually requested to do.
The Open Road of Life.
(1 Nephi 8:24). “And they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.”
Comment
Ahead is an open road. Those who walk it successfully ignore irrelevant attractions and refrain from activities which do not contribute to attainment of their purpose. They disregard the billboards designed to divert them into this or that blind alley of ease and pleasure. They stand on their own feet, set their own goals, and win their own victories.
(A Future as Bright as Your Faith, Thomas S. Monson, p.6).
James Beech
CEO
