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Highs & Lows
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
Takeaways from March’s existing home sales numbers have good and bad news according to National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, who notes that affordability and economic mobility are difficult, but housing wealth “continues to grow to new heights.” March had the biggest month-over-month drop in home sales since 2022.
Bridezilla to Buyerzilla? LendingTree found in a new survey that 48% of homeowners married in the last two years asked for money toward their down payment in lieu of gifts. Even though 52% of newlyweds opted for a smaller wedding to afford a bigger home, their parents aren’t really off the hook: 71% of parents still ponied up for weddings, down payments, or both.
CHATTER
FIRST STEP OUT THE DOOR: HousingWire reported Friday night that Fannie Mae terminated its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) team, citing a source who said they were put on the 'ol "administrative leave." We'll see in the coming days if what FHFA Director Bill Pulte posted on X last week remains true:
NEW, OWNED BY THE OLD: VantageScore 5.0
VantageScore is an independently managed joint venture company of the three Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (NCRAs) – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They just released VantageScore 5.0, which claims to utilizes the company's all-new, patent-pending attributes to offer enhanced insights on consumer creditworthiness. Features of the new release are said to include:
New Model Trained on Post-Pandemic Data and Uses All-New Patent-Pending Attributes
Enhanced Predictive Power Offers Up To 9% Lift on Unsecured Loan Originations for Thin Credit File Consumers
Superior Credit Score Model Stability Reduces Consumer Credit Score Volatility
Mr. Cooper Released Q125 Highlights:
Reported net income of $88 million including other mark-to-market of ($82) million, equivalent to ROCE of 7.3% and operating ROTCE of 16.8%
Servicing portfolio grew 33% y/y to $1,514 billion
Won 2024 Fannie Mae Star Award
Announced combination with Rocket Companies
PennyMac Q125 Results:
Pretax income was $104.2M, down from pretax income of $129.4M in the prior quarter
and up from $43.9M in Q1024
Production segment pretax income was $61.9M, down from $78.0M in the prior quarter
and up from $48.7M Q124
Servicing segment pretax income was $76.0M, down from $87.3M in the prior quarter
Pretax loss from Corporate and Other was $33.7M, compared to $35.9M in the prior
quarter and $28.4M in Q124
MOVING & SHAKING
Randell Gillespie announced on LinkedIn that he's the new president of LeaderOne.
Former loanDepot CFO Patrick Flanagan announced he's joined Rate as EVP of Financial Strategy.
Celink parent company Peer Advisors added Leslie Meaux Pordzik as an independent representative on the company's board of directors.
Foundation Mortgage added Shelly Seedorf and Tim Marsteiner to its account executive team.
Better.com & Biz2Credit announced a partnership to support small business owners with home equity financing options.
🎶 What should we do with a drunken sailor? 🎶 First American sent alleged barefoot dancer-choking CEO Kenneth DiGeorgio packing with an $18M dollar payout. 🎶Hoo-ray up she rises…
MARKET/INDUSTRY
MORTGAGE RATES DECREASE: Freddie 4-24-25
LAST WEEK PRETTY GOOD FOR BONDS: This week is a monster for industry news! Click to hear what Bill Bodnar says to watch for in his latest Master the Markets segment.
MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS DECREASED 12.7% FROM ONE WEEK EARLIER: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 4-18-25.
BIGGEST M-O-M DROP SINCE 2022: NAR March EHS
The bad news: "Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates. Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society." NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
The good news: "In a stark contrast to the stock and bond markets, household wealth in residential real estate continues to reach new heights. With mortgage delinquencies at near-historical lows, the housing market is on solid footing. A small deceleration in home price gains, which was slightly below wage-growth increases in March, would be a welcome improvement for affordability. With real estate asset valuation at $52T , according to the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds, each percentage point gain in home prices adds more than $500B to the household balance sheet."
HOME BUYER AFFORDABILITY IMPROVED IN MARCH: The national median payment applied for by purchase applicants decreased to $2,173 from $2,205 in February, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI).
CRE $498B LAST YEAR: Total commercial real estate (CRE) mortgage borrowing and lending is estimated to have totaled $498B in 2024, a 16% increase from the $429B in 2023, and a 39% decrease from $816B in 2022 - according to MBA’s 2024 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation.
HOMEOWNER PROFITS: ATTOM Data Q1 2025 U.S. Home Sales Report
Seller profit margins dipped to 50.2%, continuing a gradual decline from their 2022 peak.
While home prices stayed near record highs, margins fell in most major markets, especially in Florida and California.
Raw profits remained strong in coastal metros, and all-cash and institutional sales both saw modest increases.
Profit margins declined in 77% of major US metro areas Q-o-Q.
Despite Declines, 60% of markets still posted profit margins of 50% or higher.
Median home price remained near its historic high at $355K.
SALES STATS ACCORDING TO AGENTS: NAR’s March Realtors’ Confidence Index
21% of homes sold above list price, flat from last month’s 21% and down from 29% a year ago
57% of respondents reported that properties sold in less than one month. This is up from a month ago (50%) and down from 60% one year ago.
Homes listed received an average of 2.4 offers, nearly flat from 2.3 last month and down from 3.1 one year ago.
26% of buyers had all-cash sales, down from 32% one month ago and from 28% one year ago.
MORE NAR NONSENSE: Multiple MLSs Blowing Off "No-Commingling Rule"
The rule states that MLS listings and non-MLS listings may not be displayed together in MLSs that have adopted the policy.
Zillow was forced to create the two-tab listing display it utilizes in some markets to comply with the no-commingling rule.
In a 2023 consumer survey, Zillow found that 91% of buyers believe they should be able to see all of their housing options for free and without barriers in a single spot.
ONE BIG, HAPPY FAMILY: Veterans United Survey on Multigenerational Living
About 1-in-3 buyers cited the need to move aging parents into the home to provide care and support. Another 32% said their adult children cannot afford to live on their own, while 28% noted that extended family can help offset household costs.
Aging parents who need care (29%) was the top reason for seeking a home that can accommodate family members.
Others said extended family members may help cover costs (21%), and grandparents sometimes contribute financially so the family can live in a certain area or spend part of the year together (27%).
COUPLES ASKING FOR DOWN PAYMENT HELP: LendingTree
Among homeowners married in the past two years who made a down payment, 48% requested money to help pay for their down payment instead of wedding gifts. Across newlywed homeowners, 71% received help from parents to pay for their wedding and/or down payment.
Weddings affect homebuying plans for many. 35% of newlywed homeowners say their wedding delayed homebuying plans, and 36% say they put down less of a down payment due to their nuptials. Among newlywed homeowners who put money down, 41% wish they had put down more, while just 16% wish they had put down less.
Many prefer to invest their wedding budget in their home. Over half (52%) of newlywed homeowners say they had a smaller wedding to afford a bigger home, and 59% who made a down payment say they spent more on that than their wedding. Overall, the average down payment for newlywed homeowners is $46,741.