In the latest episode of the Lend Academy Podcast I interview James Herbert, the President and co-founder of LendingHome. We talk about how they have been able to scale so quickly, their goals for the business and where he sees the industry going.
Southern Cross Financial is seeking to take advantage of New Zealand's expanding real estate supply with challenges in traditional mortgage lending; on December 1, the firm will become a P2P mortgage lender, evolving from a mortgage brokerage business; the firm has been arranging loans between alternative credit consumers and approximately 150 investors as a mortgage broker; the new P2P structure will provide a more standardized process for borrowers and investors. Source
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a study analyzing the UK's mortgage industry; study will focus on the industry's tools for consumers and the partnerships among mortgage lenders; the FCA will specifically seek to identify ways to better utilize technological solutions within the industry; the FCA will be obtaining information from a range of market participants and plans to release the results of the study in an interim report in 2017 followed by a comment period and final report in 2018. Source
Massachusetts lender Radius Financial Group has begun experimenting with an all paperless mortgage in recent months as they look to become more efficient in this technological age; the process includes DocMagic, the MERS loan registry, Fannie Mae and Santander Bank; so far they've been able to complete six applications; the savings seen are significant, $200 a loan and on average nine to 13 days by using an e-warehouse line as compared to the traditional warehouse line. Source
The online lender is now able to originate mortgages in 27 states, with hopes of expanding to all 50 soon; included in their announcement about the New York license was overall originations reached $1 billion in December, $100 million of which were mortgages; SoFi Chief Revenue Officer Michael Tannenbaum said, "The plan is to continue to roll out a state licensing strategy, our licensing strategy mirrored places where there were large jumbo balances."; SoFi also believes their cross buying strategy and the $1 billion infusion from SoftBank has helped them weather the storm of the last year; in a separate announcement, the online lender has moved their office to 860 Washington Street in New York's Meatpacking District. Source
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[Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Nima Ghamsari, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Blend, a Silicon Valley...
LendingHome has reported over $1 billion in mortgage loan originations since it launched two and a half years ago; company is the leading marketplace lending mortgage loan originator in real estate; factors influencing the rapid growth include expansion to jumbo loans and a new investor platform for individuals; active in securitization, it has partnered with Nomura Securities International and developed the industry's first master trust securitization vehicle providing it with ongoing access to the securitization market. Source
Ally Bank has expanded its banking products to include mortgages and will offer the loans through an online service called Ally Home; the online service offering seeks to meet heightened expectations and shifting market priorities for digital, tech-driven customer experiences; with Ally Home, borrowers will have the option to manage their communication through email and their documentation online through any device; the bank also says it has partnered with mortgage servicing specialist, LenderLive, to provide fast and efficient service. Source
California mortgage lender Opes Advisors is using proprietary software technology to help clients think more holistically about how buying a home fits into their financial plans; the company originates approximately $3 billion in mortgage loans per year and has built technology software that advises clients on comprehensive financial planning; also offering wealth management, the company provides comprehensive advisory services that are unique in the mortgage lending market. Source
Researchers from the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center have released data showing only 33% of lower credit quality applicants applying for a mortgage loan in comparison to 62% in 2006; standards for mortgage lending have increased since the 2008 financial crisis which researchers believe to be a factor causing fewer mortgage applications from the lower credit quality borrowers; the Urban Institute also cites other factors for fewer mortgage applications from the category including not having enough money for a down payment and less interest in homeownership. Source