Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the CFPB. It was established by congress to oversee lenders and give access to consumers to learn about mortgage lending, and make complaints. Tensions have come up in recent years, because it's led by one director and many believe it has become …

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about tariffs and trade wars. It's been a crazy first couple of weeks with this new administration. Today's article from Morningstar talks about the possibilities of tariffs and what that could mean for us: "Buying a house admid the trade war? Here's w…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk the latest Fed meeting. The CME has a Fed watch tool and the likeliness of a rate reduction is very low until June. Ultimately, borrowers should not be waiting for rates to reduce to make a move on a property. If you're on the fence to buy and you're w…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk December's boost in new home sales. Builders were promoting a lot of incentives to move their inventory before the end of the year. And, reports say homes under $350k increased from 15% to 20% of market share. Meaning lots of first-time home buyers out…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about our new president, and his new initatives. The article we look at today is: "What Trump's win could mean for housing: experts weigh in." There are a lot of thoughts in this article, but we want to focus on the idea of privatizing Freddie Mae, and…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the most recent CPI report. Good news, inflation continues to slow down, even though it was slightly up after yesterdays report. Today we look at two competing headlines. The first article is from Realtor.com titled "Inflation rises for the third…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the devastating California fires and the consequences. Today's article is from Reuters.com: "Biggest US banks ready mortgage relief for victims of Los Angeles wildfires." The article discusses ways banks are helping victims thru different measure…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about 2025 mortgage predictions. There's a lot to look forward to, after another rate cut yesterday. Mortgagereports.com has some broad predictions "2024 housing market: Key takeaways and what lies ahead." Some factors that played into the economy in 2…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about whether economic headwinds are reducing our opportunity for rates cuts in 2025. We are anticipating a rate cut tomorrow, which is widely expected and will likely not cause any change to mortgage rates. Today's article is from YahooFinance.com "Th…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about who's buying and selling mortgages in 2025. The discussion references Realtor.com's article "Younger American's who bought their homes during the pandemic will be 2025's biggest sellers." The results of the article's survey found that 20% of home…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the FHA's proposed rental requirements. Today's article: "FHA proposes looser Boarder Income Requirements for Qualifying" says the FHA realizes it needs to use all income streams to help qualify first-time buyers, and rental income is one of them…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk all about homebuilders! We are a few weeks into our post-election reality and the market is looking up now that we know who our future president will be. Today's article from Housingwire "Homebuilder confidence gets a post-election boost" says builders…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the new president and new policies. Today's article is from CNBC: "Here's what the trump presidency could mean for the housing market, experts say" talks about what President Trump plans to do to fix housing. First we can expect, deregulation to …

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the Fed's second rate cut. Today's article is from CNBC "Mortgage rates surge higher on Trump victory, causing housing stocks to fall." Post election we saw a slight rate bump, Trump's campaign said they would give tax cuts and would put tariffs …

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about what we can expect with the next rate cut. There is another fed meeting later this week, and CBS News' article asks "What will happen to mortgage rates after this week's Fed rate cut?" We are all expecting a 25% basis point rate cut, but unfortun…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the state of home sales and inflation. The PCE came in right on target at 2.1%, where the Fed was expecting. This is one of the Fed's primary gages for inflation. Housing inflation has slowed a bit, and sales haven't increased as much due to affo…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about the housing market's slow comeback as they look forward to the rest of this year and beyond. The good thing is people will always need housing, despite the fact that we are a little behind the expectations for the year, next year is looking up. T…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about home appreciation. Today's article "Home price growth slows but remains robust" highlights the cooling home prices we are seeing. We are about to get loan limits for next year which show an increase in home prices of 5.9%. And, what we are seeing…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about home prices one more time. The question they ask today is based on today's article: "What will happen to home prices as interest rates are cut." Three things can happen: prices continue to grow, they go down or they stay the same. Some of the fac…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about why rates aren't getting better. The reason we are all confused is because rates are climbing, and this is after the highly anticipated rate cut. This could be due to a positive jobs report, and inflation coming down -- the two main factors the f…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard talk about some of the factors that are currently bringing down home prices. New homes are slowly becoming more affordable for median earning Americans, and one of the main factors contributing to this trend downward is lumber costs. According to this artic…

Welcome back, Dreammakers, to Today in Mortgages! In this episode, hosts Michael and Richard Jefferson dive into some optimistic news on home affordability. They discuss a recent article from National Mortgage Professional titled Starter Homes Newly Affordable in 4 US Metros. With insights on rising wages, increasing home listings, and declining in…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about what's to come this fall. We are seeing our spring/summer home buying season being extended with an influx of homes this fall (up to 1.3 million homes). So it's a great time to look if you were waiting to buy. Rates have come down, so inventory has gone up - but we pre…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about the big stimulus package passed in China today. First, we review some of the things that can affect rates as mentioned in CBS News' article "6 things that impact mortgage interest rates (besides the fed)" which includes labor, and global economic trends. Taking a deepe…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about the results of the Fed rate cut meeting: 50 basis points. How did that news affect the markets? We discuss the aftermath along with today's article from Fox News "Will the Fed rate cut bring down mortgage rates?" Obviously, we got a bigger rate cut than we were expecti…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about the highly anticipated upcoming Fed meeting to discuss cutting rates. We reference an article from Market Watch to help guide our discussion around refinancing: "The Fed is about to cut interest rates. Here's how to decide when to refinance your mortgage." Our borrower…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about the big presidential debate that went down this week and what it means for housing policy. Time Magazine's analyzes the candidates policy in today's article: "Here's what Harris and Trump has proposed to help the housing crisis." Crisis is a strong word and we agree, w…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we are looking forward to the coming months projections. We always love to see growth, but today's article from National Mortgage News: "How the home price forecast is changing." There are regional trends around the nation where markets grow and shrink, but overall Fannie predicts p…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about the wide-spread affects of interests rates. We look at an article from CNBC: "Weak manufacturing measures raise specter of U.S. economic slowdown". Reports are showing the economy contracting due to lower demand. This is another indicator of what the economy is doing, …

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about inventory dropping due to rates rumoring to come down. Generally, this time of year purchase applications decline, but that's not happening now with decreasing rates. Housing Wire's article: "Housing inventory falls as mortgage rates drop" discusses the inverse relatio…

Welcome back dreammakers! In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about why builders are weary despite homes sales rebounding according to today's article from Zillow "New home sales rebounded more than expected in July." Builders have been aggressive trying to get rid of inventory with incentives so we aren't surprised people are buying n…

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we discuss starter homes and why they are a bight spot in this economy according to today's article from Redfin: "Starter homes emerge as bright spot as mortgage rates settle near 15-month low." Interest rates are down which is giving buyers a little buying power... which is especially good news for first-ti…

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we break down the recent job report revision; there's a lot less jobs than initially reported. It is normal for the BLS report to have small revisions after the fact but this particular adjustment is more significant. The fed uses these reports to guide their decisions on when to cut rates. Employment has be…

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we talk about $25,000 tax credits proposed by the Harris campaign and whether we think they will help or hurt. We discuss this and Fox's article "Waiting for mortgage rates to fall? Why Experts say it won't make a difference". The article believes that lowering rates will make buying more affordable for only…

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we discuss PPI, refinances and rate cuts! Great news, the increase we saw for inflation was tied to PPI which is good for the housing marketing (Fed will look at these numbers in their next meeting). Shelter inflation accounts for 90% of price increases, and now that we are below the 3% inflation mark for th…

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we discuss if we are finally getting a relief in interest rates. This week has had a lot of volatility in the marketplace, and people are asking why? To help explain, Rich teaches on the relationship between the 10 year treasury and interest rates, and why when rates drops, the treasury starts to fall as wel…

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," we take you behind the scenes of Network Funding to see how we coach up our people. We are taking a look at Rich's latest video to the company about market volatility over the last week, and how we should respond as Loan Officers. His key takeaway is to make sure we are quoting accurate rates to protect our …

In this episode of "Today in Mortgages," Michael and Richard dive into the recent Federal Reserve meeting and the surprising number of real estate deals that fell apart in June. They discuss key takeaways from Jerome Powell's speech and analyze the implications for the mortgage and real estate markets. Key Topics: 1. Federal Reserve Meeting Insight…

Welcome back dream makers, today we are discussing what the fed will come up with in their meeting today. We hope they are discussing a rate cut and if so, it likely won't be before September. CNBC's article "The first Fed interest rate cut is on the horizon. Here's what homeowners, buyers need to know." The crux of this article says that some of t…

Welcome back dream makers, today we are discussing what's a lame duck housing market. CNBC's article "Mortgage demand drops, as homebuyers wait for lower rates" hints that consumers don't want to accept these high rates. Incoming data shows inflation rates have come down significantly, as we all anticipate rate cuts coming soon. We've personally se…

Welcome back dream makers, today we are discussing if delinquencies are becoming a problem and what that means for housing. We are giving today's article "Mortgage delinquencies hit a six month high in June, but it's not as bad as it looks" mixed reviews. It has some truths but also takes a negative perspective that could be misleading. It is true …

Welcome back dream makers, today we are discussing homeownership. We are looking at Housing Wire's article: "Is this the best evidence for a home ownership problem?" The article finds there is a gap between home ownership & households -- a household refers to two or more related people. The data for household homeowners has been consistent over the…

Welcome back dream makers, today we are asking the question: Are we in a housing bubble? We've talked about inventory a lot on this show, because it is low and that is a critical piece of housing. Today's article from New York Post Today declares "Massive housing bubble about to burst in this US region, warns a real estate expert -- see where." Thi…

Welcome back dream makers, we've been talking about the lack of inventory for a while now, but the biggest reason people are not moving is due to high interest rates. Today's article from CNBC.com wants us to consider the influx of inventory we are seeing: "It suddenly looks like there are too many houses for sale. Here's why that's not quite right…

Welcome back dream makers, this is Today In Mortgage! We are discussing what historically happens to housing during election years. To do this, we are specifically looking at home sales, home prices and interest rates according to today's article from Keeping Current: "How will the 2024 election affect real estate." Traditionally, home sales declin…

Welcome back dream makers, today we are discussing voters and housing! We are in election season, and today's article from Housing Wires says housing is a top issue for voters. Specifically, affordability is the main issue, which is effected by rates, regulations and inventory. Last week we discussed rates and how the president really can't influen…

Today in Mortgages we discuss if the presidential election can change the course of residential housing. There is hype around the election and today's article from Yahoo Finance wants us to consider "What the housing market could look like if Donald Trump wins the 2024 Presidential election." But we don't see how any single person could fix the mar…

Today in Mortgages we discuss which generation is paying the most for housing. Across the board everything was less expensive for older generations from home prices to college to household goods. A surprise is that it cost less household income-wise for the younger generation. Millennials are paying 23% of their household income for housing verses …

Today in Mortgages we discuss how housing plays into inflation. Yesterday Powell discussed "sticky shelter inflation" referring to high shelter costs, which make up about 30-40% of CPI. Shelter includes rent, insurance, hotels, and personal residences. Powell discussed whether cuts can come while housing inflation is still elevated and hinted at on…

Today in Mortgages we dive into the current state of credit card debt with the average interest at 26% or above. There is a disconnect between employment and earnings. Today's article from the AP News: "Borrowers, especially the young, struggle with credit card debt in potentially bad sign for the economy," focuses on the younger generations, who h…