Pending home sales jump by most since June 2020

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1. Pending home sales jump by most since June 2020

Pending home sales increased for the second straight month in January, surging 8.1% — the largest monthly gain since June 2020, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Monday.

The Northeast, Midwest, South, and West regions all posted gains in January, with the West seeing the largest increase due to lower home prices, while the South saw gains due to stronger job growth.

“Buyers responded to better affordability from falling mortgage rates in December and January,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.

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2. CFPB bans RMK from mortgage industry

RMK Financial Corporation, which does business as Majestic Home Loans, has been permanently banned by the CFPB from the mortgage lending industry following a series of repeat offenses that occurred despite the CFPB's law enforcement order issued in 2015.

The initial agency order was issued against RMK for sending advertisements to military families, which led the recipients to believe that the company was affiliated with the U.S. government.

RMK Financial also faces $1 million in penalty fees, which will be deposited into the CFPB’s victims’ relief fund.

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3. Better launches newest mortgage innovatIon

Better.com, a digital mortgage lender, has launched a new mortgage product called “Equity Unlocker,” which enables employees to use their vested stock equity as collateral for a down payment without selling their stock.

The first group to have access to this product is current and former Amazon employees who have vested equity in the company, and it is currently available in Florida, New York, and Washington state.

The goal of the product is to allow employees to unlock their stock equity to fund a down payment on a home. This will enable Amazon employees to save 25% to 35% in the immediate term by not having to pay a capital gains tax on the sale of a stock, which can total “hundreds of thousands of dollars” saved.

4. Rocket posts a $493M loss in Q4

Rocket Companies Inc. reported a net loss of $493 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a net profit of $865 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company's revenues for the year fell by nearly 55%, and closed loan origination volume fell by 62% in 2022.

Rocket CEO Jay Farner attributed the company's poor performance to the rapid change in the housing and mortgage industries, citing the Federal Reserve's decision to increase the benchmark federal funds rate eight times in 2022, which resulted in higher mortgage rates.

5. More Nuggets

🏡 Homes owned by Black families in the US appreciated the most since the start of the pandemic, with the typical Black homeowner gaining nearly $84,000 in equity, and the gap between the typical Black-owned home's value and the value of the typical U.S. home is now the smallest it's been in more than two decades. (Zillow)

🏦 The US House has passed the SECURE Notarization Act of 2023, which authorizes electronic and remote notarizations that occur in or affect interstate commerce, and establishes nationwide minimum standards for consumer protection and fraud prevention, with the aim of making the mortgage closing process more convenient for consumers. (NMP)

💸 Prosperity Home Mortgage has acquired Arizona-based JFQ Lending to explore the direct-to-consumer channel, with JFQ's technology stack and sales process aiding Prosperity's goal of becoming a significant force in the direct consumer channel with an equal focus on purchase and refinance transactions. (RIS)

☀️ See you on Friday!

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