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Nonbanks are hiking conforming loan limits Two more lenders move to raise their conforming loan limits ahe

Didier Malagies • Oct 13, 2021


Earlier in the month, PennyMac Financial and United Wholesale Mortgage publicly announced that they are each raising their conforming loan ceilings by 14%, nearly two months ahead of the Federal Housing Finance Agency‘s official decree. They’re not the only ones getting a jump on new conforming loan limits.

Rocket Mortgage and Homepoint announced last week that they are also upping their conforming loan limit to $625,000 for a one-unit property.


According to a letter Homepoint sent to its mortgage broker partners last Thursday, the new loan limit – a $75,000 increase from the current maximum loan limit, as dictated by the FHFA– will go into effect this week.


Phil Shoemaker, president of originations at wholesaler Homepoint, noted that the Michigan-based lender decided to up its loan limit due to “the significant appreciation we’re seeing in home prices throughout the country.”


Shoemaker added, “We wanted to move quickly to support this market so that our mortgage broker partners can be at the forefront of providing greater housing affordability to borrowers in their communities.”


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Rocket Mortgage made the same announcement last week.

Bill Banfield, executive vice president of capital markets at Rocket Mortgage, said the loan limit that nonbanks seem to be coalescing around is in “recognition that home prices have been going up quite a bit.”

“We anticipate that the limit will come in at $625,000, but could be higher depending on the third quarter results,” he said.


Furthermore, PennyMac announced another change last week, hiking their conforming high balance loan limit to $937,500 in high-cost areas, up from a limit ranging between $724,500 and $822,375 for a one-unit property in select areas.


“We are pleased to support borrowers in 60 high-cost counties throughout the country by offering these expanded high balance limits through our national network of broker and correspondent partners,” said Kimberly Nichols, senior managing director of broker direct lending at PennyMac.


The FHFA is expected to announce the new conforming loan limit sometime in November. But for now, the 2021 baseline national conforming loan limit for a one-unit property is capped at $548,250.


Meanwhile, a former FHFA official told HousingWire that nonbanks are likely uniting around $625,000 because they have inside information from the agency.


“It would be hugely risky to announce that they were raising their conforming loan limit without having the enterprises to offload those loans to, they’d have no choice but to hold them in portfolio if say Fannie Mae didn’t raise its conforming loan limit to the new number,” he said.



And while nonbanks have been chatty about their intentions to up the loan limit, depositories have been silent on the matter. Wells FargoChase and Flagstar Bank did not respond to requests for comment.




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By Didier Malagies 29 Apr, 2024
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By Didier Malagies 22 Apr, 2024
Retirement at 65 has been a longstanding norm for U.S. workers, but older investors believe that not only is such an outcome unfeasible, but they’re likely to face more challenging retirements than their parents or grandparents. This is according to recently released survey results from Nationwide , with a respondent pool that included 518 financial advisers and professionals, as well as 2,346 investors ages 18 and older with investable assets of $10,000 or more. The survey follows other ongoing research into the baby boomer generation as it approaches “ Peak 65 .” The investors included a subset of 391 “pre-retirees“ between the ages of 55 and 65 who are not retired, along with subsets of 346 single women and 726 married women, Nationwide explained of its methodology. Seven in 10 of the pre-retiree investors said that the norm of retirement at age 65 “doesn’t apply to them,” while 67% of this cohort also believe that their own retirement challenges will outweigh those of preceding generations. Stress is changing the perceptions of retired life, especially for those who are closest to retirement, the results suggest. “Four in 10 (41%) pre-retirees said they would continue working in retirement to supplement their income out of necessity, and more than a quarter (27%) plan to live frugally to fund their retirement goals,” the results explained. “What’s more, pre-retirees say their plans to retire have changed over the last 12 months, with 22% expecting to retire later than planned.” Eric Henderson, president of Nationwide Annuity , said that previous generations who observed a “smooth transition” into retired life do not appear to be translating to the current generation making the same move. “Today’s investors are having a tougher time picturing that for themselves as they grapple with inflation and concerns about running out of money in retirement,” Henderson said in a statement. The result is that more pre-retirees are changing their spending habits and aiming to live more inexpensively. Forty-two percent of the surveyed pre-retiree cohort agreed with the idea that managing day-to-day expenses has grown more challenging due to rising costs of living, while 27% attributed inflation as the key reason they are saving less for retirement today. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said that inflation “poses the most immediate challenge to their retirement portfolio over the next 12 months,” while 41% said they were avoiding unnecessary expenses like vacations and leisure shopping. Confidence in the U.S. Social Security program has also fallen, the survey found. “Lack of confidence in the viability of Social Security upon retirement (38%) is a significant factor influencing pre-retirees to rethink or redefine their retirement planning strategies,” the results explained. “Over two-fifths (43%) are not counting on Social Security benefits as much as previously expected, and more than a quarter (27%) expect to receive less in benefits than previously anticipated.”  The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide in January 2024.
By Didier Malagies 22 Apr, 2024
Depending on where you live there is an opportunity in certain areas that you can get $2,500 towards the closing costs. You also get a lower rate and monthly PMI. Programs open up to you where there is down payment assistance and also the 1% down program available. I am seeing more and more first-time home buyers coming out now and this is information you need to know. Yes, home prices are higher and rates as well. But if you have these programs available and the payment is affordable then the probability of refinancing down the road is in your favor and if inflation continues to go up so will home prices. Maybe it is the right time to buy a home now? Tune in and learn https://www.ddamortgage.com/blog didier malagies nmls#212566 dda mortgage nmls#324329
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