Newfi expands relationship with investment lender

Newfi Lending is making further investments in Dunmor, a residential transition loan provider, to build upon the initial relationship it established last year. 

The new deal has the Emeryville, California-based lender owned by Apollo Global Management taking a minority investment stake in Dunmor. The two companies first signed an agreement last June that had Newfi provide funding to help Dunmor grow its business.

Founded in 2021, Dunmor serves the investment real estate community with products, such as bridge, fix-and-flip, ground-up construction and debt-service coverage ratio loans for both residential and multifamily markets. Newfi's investment will allow Los Angeles-based Dunmor to focus on increasing market share in the residential transition lending space.

"Over the past six months Dunmor's platform and performance continually impressed us, and we are now looking forward to expanding our relationship with a minority equity investment," said Newfi CEO and founder Steve Abreu.

The new agreement also establishes benchmark milestones that will provide Newfi opportunities to increase its minority stake in the future.

"Our team has created a remarkable platform and brand, and we are now set to embark on a new growth phase with Newfi as a key strategic partner together with Apollo's backing," added Dunmore CEO Franck Ruimy " 

Dunmor's products are currently available in all 50 states. The company offers separate loan-origination systems for real estate investors and brokers, with hopes to enhance their capabilities thanks to the new deal.

Newfi, meanwhile, was established in 2014 and specializes in nonagency lending, with products including non-QM, jumbo and shared-appreciation mortgages, alongside its residential transition loans. 

The deal comes as housing researchers see changing market conditions and increasing worries among the investor community as 2025 begins. In a quarterly investor sentiment index published by RCN Capital and CJ Patrick Co., the score dropped sharply between autumn and winter 2024, sliding from 124 to 97. The current reading, though, is still one point above where it came in 12 months ago. 

The drop came after four consecutive quarters of improvements, with views falling for both current and yearly outlook subindices. Despite the concerns, 47% of respondents in the CJ Patrick survey said they plan to buy the same number of properties in 2025 as they did in 2024. 

While researchers suggested seasonality could be behind much of the falling sentiment, higher costs from Trump administration policies also may be playing a role in the more negative future outlook this quarter, they said. Over half of investors, or 53%, are concerned about hikes in business-related costs that would likely come from large-scale deportations. Another 45% worried about the ability to find skilled labor. 

Approximately 41% of respondents similarly said they were concerned about higher costs to come from newly imposed tariffs. A higher share of 48% noted supply-chain disruption, while 45% said tariffs would lead to reduced profit margins for their investment properties.