- InGeniusly Speaking
- Posts
- Mixed Bag
Mixed Bag
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
Table of Contents
CHATTER
Squeaker Vote => Rate Cut: Fed Governor Stephen Miran Sworn in Night Before FOMC Meeting.
Trump Asks SUPCO for Emergency Order to Oust Fed Gov Lisa Cook (HW)
Cook was allowed to participate in the FOMC meeting last week.
Get Resumes Ready: CFPB Warns Employee Layoffs Likely
Congress imposed funding limits earlier this year that cut available operating dollars by nearly half.
No Greening for You: FHFA Pulls Out of NGFS
FHFA joined growing list of government regulators withdrawing from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as part of the Trump agenda.
CrossCountry Capital and its partners have received $1+B of equity capital commitments representing $20+B of new loan investments: CrossCountry HoldCo, the parent company of CrossCountry Mortgage, announced the expansion of its asset management arm, CrossCountry Capital with key partners including an Ares Alternative Credit fund and Hildene Capital Management.. CCC will further expand its non-QM investment platform as well as add complementary asset classes including residential transition loans, construction and vertical builder finance, multi-family lending, and HELOC and second-lien strategies.
Welcome to the Top 15: Union Home Mortgage Acquires Sierra Pacific
UHM purchased the origination assets of Sierra Pacific Mortgage Corporation (SPMC), acquiring both the retail and wholesale channels of SPMC and incorporates all existing SPMC retail branches and wholesale broker relationships to their portfolio.
Rithm Capital to Acquire Paramount Group: The company says that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Paramount Group, Inc., a vertically-integrated real estate investment trust that owns, operates, manages, and redevelops Class A office properties in New York City and San Francisco, for total cash consideration to Paramount shareholders of approximately $1.6 billion. Paramount’s portfolio includes 13 owned and 4 managed high quality office assets, totaling more than 13.1 million square feet, 85.4% of which is currently leased as of June 30, 2025.
Nasty Accusations: RocketPro EVP Katie Sweeney & AIME Are At It (NMN)
Sweeney is suing the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts for allegedly “owing her money,” while AIME’s suit claims Sweeney directed nearly $1M to her own pocket via “self-serving conduct.”
Upstart keeps nibbling at NAR…
Another Knock to NAR: Competitor American Real Estate Association Scores Big Member
In an email to members, AREA said, “Douglas Elliman, one of the nation’s largest and most respected brokerages, has officially joined ARA. With over 6,000 new agents now part of our community, this partnership marks a new chapter in our mission to elevate agents and reshape the future of our industry.”
Fidelity National Financial Sues FinCEN (HW)
FNF claims irreparable harm if the anti-money laundering law takes effect on Dec. 1.
The new law will require title firms to report specific details on all-cash home purchase transactions. These include the names, addresses, dates of birth, citizenship status and ID numbers of all people involved — including minors — plus payment details and information about trusts and entities that are purchasing the property. The rule was promulgated under the Biden administration and is set to go into effect in December 2025.
Hand-wringing Over CFPB Proposal: Woodstock Institute Sounds Alarm
The CFPB proposed limiting oversight of non-banks, including mortgage lenders; consumer advocates say it “opens the door for predators.”
Radian Group announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Lloyd's specialty insurer Inigo Limited for $1.7 billion in a primarily all-cash transaction.
“Today’s announcement of the acquisition of Inigo marks an important milestone for Radian as we transform our business model from a leading U.S. mortgage insurer into a global, multi-line specialty insurer.” - Rick Thornberry, Chief Executive Officer of Radian.
Ardley launched Ardley OneLink, a platform entry point that enables lenders and servicers to instantly deliver Ardley-enabled custom loan offers to any qualified potential borrower. The company says OneLink will help solve two of the biggest challenges mortgage lenders and servicers face in generating new originations: 1) Low borrower conversion rates with generic, non-personalized “rates-as-low-as” marketing, and 2) The inability to market directly depository customers and brand new prospects who do not already hold a mortgage.
Fraudsters to Fed Pen? NMP
A married couple who were a former NASA technical manager and NASA contractor — have admitted to orchestrating a fraudulent mortgage financing and refinancing scheme that stretched across several years. NASA's Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation; both are facing 5 years and steep fines.
MOVING & SHAKING
Blackstone named Katie Keenan as the CEO of its real estate income trust and global head of the Core+ business, following the fatal shooting of the former head of the businesses in July.
HW reports that Opendoor replaced CFO Selim Freiha with Christy Schwartz.
MISMO named Brian Vieux, CMB President.
TMAC promoted Chase Kinder to VP of Wholesale.
Groundfloor Lending Expands Leadership Team: The company added Patrick Donoghue as VP & General Manager, Kendall Bazan as Vice President of Revenue, and Andrew Hurd as Vice President of Risk
FNB Expands Leadership Team (NMP)
F.N.B. Corporation, the Pittsburgh-based parent company of First National Bank named Ben Weisman has been named Director of Artificial Intelligence Strategy. David Malka, appointed Director of Data Science Strategy.
Kind Lending promoted Ron James to team lead.
MARKET/INDUSTRY
When good news is bad news: Bill Bodnar notes we're in a big week in his latest Master the Markets segment. Core PCE is on the docket this week, along with a bunch of Fed speakers.
Fratantoni on the Fed:
“The FOMC cut the federal funds rate target by 25 basis points, in line with market expectations. The projections show that the median FOMC member anticipates two additional cuts in 2025 and one more in 2026, with the expectation that the job market will remain soft while inflation, while rising, won’t move too far before returning to the Fed’s 2% target. While the decision was not unanimous, with one dissent from the newest governor, Stephen Miran, the strong vote for the 25-basis-point cut suggests that members, while acknowledging that downside risks to the job market have increased, are not panicking about the state of the economy.”
Mortgage Rates Continue to Move Down: Freddie 9-18-25
Mortgage rates decreased yet again this week, prompting many homeowners to refinance.
What’s the best since January 2022?
Mortgage Applications Increased 29.7% From One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 9-12-25.
The Refinance Index increased 58% from the previous week and was 70% higher than the same week one year ago. In fact, the share of mortgage applications that were refinances reached nearly 60%, the highest since January 2022.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 12% compared with the previous week and was 20% higher than the same week one year ago.
Apps for New Homes Up 1% YoY: MBA Builder Application Survey (BAS) for August 2025
Apps for new homes were down 6% MoM.
“Applications to purchase newly constructed homes remained higher than last year, although the monthly pace of applications slowed from July. The bright spot in the August results was that estimated new home sales increased for the third consecutive month to its strongest sales pace in almost a year. Housing inventory levels continue to grow, which has given prospective homebuyers more buying options and continues to reduce sales price pressures. The average loan size remained below $380,000 for the fifth consecutive month and was close to 2021 levels.” - Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.
What’s the worst since 2008?
Flipping Off: ATTOM Data’s Q225 U.S. Home Flipping Report
The typical home flipped in the second quarter of 2025 was purchased by an investor for $259,700 and sold for $325,000, netting a 25.1% ROI – the lowest since 2008.
Gross profits dropped 13.6% YoY.
7.4% of all home sales were flipped, down slightly QoQ and YoY.
40% DPA?!
Homeownership Help: New DPA Program for Detroit
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is teaming up with the Tobias Harris Homeownership Initiative (THHI) on a new shared-appreciation mortgage pilot with Guild Mortgage and Homium.
The mortgage product will provide qualified borrowers with up to 40% of a home’s purchase price in down payment assistance (DPA) without adding any monthly debt, allowing borrowers to secure a conforming first mortgage without the need for mortgage insurance.
Instead of a monthly repayment, upon sale or refinance, the borrower repays the initial down payment assistance plus a share of the market appreciation.
Foreclosures Fluid: ATTOM’s August Foreclosure Report
Monthly change: Down 1.1% from July 2025
Year-over-year change: Up 18.1% from August 2024
National rate: 1 in every 3,987 housing units faced a foreclosure filing
Worst foreclosure rates: Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida
Where do Realtors get the majority of their leads?
Biggest Lead Sources for Agents: NAR’s 2025 Realtor Technology Survey
Social Media 39%
Customer Relationship Management CRM 23%
Local MLS 17%