For some homebuyers, rising mortgage rates could be a silver lining
Demand for properties tends to soften as mortgage rates climb, eventually leading to a decline in home prices. If mortgage rates continue rising to 7%, Sykes estimates home prices in some parts of the U.S. could fall as much as 40%. "You might, depending on your situation, actually have a better shot at getting a home at an affordable price with these higher rates," she told CBS News.
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Mortgage rates continue to climb
Mortgage rates moved higher this week, continuing an upward trend that has kept rates above 5% since mid-April. The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.30% in the week ending May 12, up from 5.27% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. It is the highest since 2009 and well above the 2.94% average from this time last year.
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Blend: We plan to outperform the decline in origination volume
While adjusting cost structures, Ghamsari highlighted the company's focus is on long-term growth - investing in fully integrated software, delivering consumer banking products, and building a platform that powers the end-to-end value chain and homeownership. In April, Blend rolled out three closing products that aim to shorten closing cycles and lower error rates. The new solutions include Blend eVault, a repository of electronic promissory notes available through the platform; Blend Signing Room, Blend's remote online notarization (RON) solution; and Blend RON Eligibility Engine, which provides RON-eligibility information.
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Refinance closing costs increase but remain below inflation rate
The national average closing costs for a single-family property refinance increased by $88 to $2,375 in 2021, data from CoreLogic showed. While refinance closing costs were 3.8% higher than 2020's reported amount of $2,287, they were less than 1% of the average refinance loan amount of $304,909. Refi closing costs were also relatively lower compared to the average closing costs for purchase transactions, which require title insurance and several inspection fees.
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CoreLogic: Jump in home-purchase closing costs outpaces refi loans
Closing costs for homeowners who jumped on the refi wave in 2021 increased at less than one-third the pace of closing costs for home purchases as homebuyers had to cope with a hot market that fueled higher home-sale prices and related settlement costs. The national average closing costs for a single-family property refinance in 2021 was $2,375, up $88, or 3.8%, from the previous year, according to CoreLogic's ClosingCorp.
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CANADA: Long delays at Alberta Land Titles office slowing down real estate transactions
Transferring property from one owner to another is taking a lot longer in Alberta than it used to. According to the provincial government's land titles website, the office is currently registering land title documents received on Feb. 4 and survey plans and documents received on March 2. Lou Pesta, a Calgary real estate lawyer with Parlee McLaws, said the typical turnaround time during his 40-year career has been two-to-five days and as long as two weeks during peak times.
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Lower mortgage volume drives title earnings down, Doma layoffs
Earnings at the publicly-traded title insurers trended down in the first quarter as business waned, going in a different direction as their brethren in the mortgage insurance industry. Both industries rely on mortgage origination volume but while only certain transactions require MI, namely most conforming loans with less than 20% down, title insurance touches practically all transactions.
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