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The most-read mortgage news stories of the year

ByNMN Staff
January 2, 2023 5:00 AM

National Mortgage News readers were all too aware of the ominous signs for home financing as the Federal Reserve's inflation-busting measures put the refi boom to an end. As lenders and servicers, tech providers and others in the ecosystem changed tack, we tracked their every move — and so did you. 

Here are the most-read stories from National Mortgage News over the last year.

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LoanDepot to cut 2,000 workers through the end of the year

LoanDepot announced plans to lay off 2,000 workers through the end of the year, part of a larger restructuring targeting profitability by the end of the year in response to the cooling mortgage market.

In July, the Foothill Ranch, California-based lender unveiled its Vision 2025 Plan, in which it will spend between $34.5 million to $40.5 million in total pre-tax related charges to trim payroll, shed real estate, reduce spending and restructure operations.

Read the full story here.
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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

As the secondary market rethinks risks, so too must lenders

From the start, the Biden-era Federal Housing Finance Agency has been focused on its public mission, but now that the pandemic has receded it's additionally assessing the government-sponsored enterprises' risks in line with an exit from conservatorship.

That process primarily occurs at the enterprise level with the aim of setting capital requirements for the GSEs, but it also has a ripple effect: When Fannie and Freddie reassess their risks and change their policies, lenders often have to as well.

Read the full story here.
Wells Fargo
Photographer: Craig Warga/Bloomberg

Wells Fargo continues mortgage layoffs

Wells Fargo laid 107 workers at the end of August in Des Moines, where its home mortgage division is based. The bank hasn't disclosed the number of impacted mortgage staff since it began layoffs in April, but said that 35% of them have moved into other roles within the company. 

Read the full story here.
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Home inventory won’t return until at least 2024: Zillow

In the Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, 79% of respondents predicted that monthly inventory levels should return to an average of 1.5 million houses for sale by the end of 2024. A substantial portion, 41% of the 109 people surveyed, were even more optimistic, believing that the monthly supply will reach that level by the end of 2023.

Read the full story here.
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Mr. Cooper lays off 800 employees

The Dallas-based lender confirmed it was slashing approximately 800 positions, calling it a "disciplined" and "proactive step to scale back the origination business." Mr. Cooper's spokesperson did not disclose what branches would be impacted.

Read the full story here.
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Fannie Mae predicts home prices will drop in 2023

Rising mortgage rates are taking their toll on the home sales market, leading Fannie Mae to reduce its origination forecast in its latest U.S. economic outlook. Annual price growth is likely to turn negative in the second quarter next year, another factor in their prediction of declining volumes as measured in dollars.

Read the full story here.
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Photographer: Mark Brown/Getty Images

LoanDepot faces new shareholder lawsuit

LoanDepot shareholder Tuyet Vu sued the company for allegedly misleading investors, claiming the firm's leadership artificially inflated its stock at the time of its initial public offering in February 2021.

Read the full story here.
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Mortgage players confirm more sweeping layoffs

Cuts at New American Funding, mortgage fintech Ribbon, Guild Mortgage and Open Mortgage in August added to the lengthy list of mortgage firms shedding payroll in response to rising rates and declining affordability for prospective borrowers.

Read the full story here.
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Real estate commission change may hurt borrowers, brokerage argues

Right now, real estate commissions are paid from the sellers' proceeds at the closing table, with the buyer's agent and the listing agent splitting the money.

But some groups, who have filed suits against the National Association of Realtors and others, claim this leads to outsized commissions. They argue that the buy and sell side should each pay their share separately, also known as decoupling, which would spur negotiations about them and, they say, lead to lower fees overall. 

Read the full story here.
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Homes overvalued in 88% of metro areas: S&P

The percentage of metropolitan statistical areas with price-to-income ratios above their 15-year averages has risen to 88% from 50% in the ratings agency's previous study, which was released Oct. 29, 2021. Homes were overvalued by an aggregate 15% in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 5% in the earlier report.

Read the full story here.
STUTTGART, GERMANY - Dec 12, 2021: Person holding smartphone with logo of company Better Mortgage (Better.com) on screen with website.
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Better.com reportedly mulling layoff of nearly half its staff

The embattled lender, which was still reeling from its December 2021 layoffs, was estimated to cut between 40% to 50% of its workers sometime in March, anonymous sources told TechCrunch. The report came after executive resignations and the reporting of massive financial losses detailed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report.

Read the full story here.
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Fannie Mae cuts 2022 origination forecast

Fannie Mae's February mortgage origination forecast reduced its outlook by $172 billion as rising interest rates and higher prices took their toll on affordability.

Company executives alluded to the lowered projection of $3.17 trillion in its fourth quarter earnings call on Feb. 15. In January, Fannie Mae economists expected $3.34 trillion for the year.

Read the full story here.
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Layoffs hit Freedom Mortgage

Freedom Mortgage conducted a round of layoffs in early November, which impacted close to a thousand employees, according to estimates from half a dozen employees. Those affected said this was the biggest reduction the company has made in years.

Read the full story here.
Anthony Hseih

LoanDepot earnings sink over 90%. Are layoffs next?

The 2021 fourth quarter and full year results at the first independent mortgage banker to report earnings, loanDepot, were in the range of the not-so-encouraging results seen at commercial banks. It later announced some belt-tightening which took place over the following months.

Read the full story here.
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Recession to hit in early 2023, Fannie Mae says

The government-sponsored enterprise's Chief Economist Doug Duncan first mentioned the likelihood of a recession in his April forecast when he expected it to begin in the second half of 2023. A month later the expectation was revised, to reflect that it may start earlier in the year.

Read the full story here.
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Joaquin Parral

The strange litigation onslaught against CrossCountry Mortgage

Recent lawsuits brought by LoanDepot are just a few of the poaching complaints against CrossCountry, which is facing a mountain of accusations that have raised eyebrows in the mortgage industry. 

An inexhaustive list includes lawsuits from Freedom Mortgage, Homeside Financial, Guild Mortgage, and Caliber Home Loans. 

Read the full story here.
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20% of home sellers slashed list price in last 4 weeks: Redfin

Nearly one in five, or 19.1%, of sellers across the U.S. dropped prices over the four-week period ending May 22, the highest percentage since October 2019, according to the real estate brokerage. Other metrics tracking buyer demand, including time on the market and the share of properties sold above list price, also leveled off.

Read the full story here.
A Wells Fargo & Co. Bank Branch Ahead Of Earnings Figures
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Wells Fargo fires mortgage staff for misuse of appraisal waivers

The lender said an investigation revealed home mortgage consultants "willfully and knowingly" changed property value information provided by customers to obtain the waivers, contrary to bank policy. The waivers eliminate the extra time and cost of appraisals and were a popular choice for borrowers refinancing during last year's record-low interest rate environment.

Read the full story here.
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Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg

Caliber Home Loans says competitor raided over 80 employees

The Dallas-based lender accused Ohio-based CrossCountry Mortgage of unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets in a complaint filed in the Western District of Washington U.S. District Court. The lawsuit explicitly identified dozens of departed Caliber branch and sales managers allegedly involved in the raid and claimed CrossCountry was in possession of Caliber's confidential information.


Read the full story here.
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Kim White

Wells Fargo confirms mortgage staff layoffs

Wells Fargo in April that it had laid off an undisclosed number of home lending employees due to mortgage market conditions, one week after reporting a major decline in origination volume in the first quarter of the year.

Read the full story here.
NMN Staff
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