Mortgages have come a long way since 2007. After the housing bubble burst, many wondered if the market would ever recover, and if it did, how long it would take? Now, a little over six years have passed since the U.S. Treasury announced it would be providing unlimited support to Fannie and Freddie, despite the huge losses at the time. We can now look back at what the market’s recovery has looked like.

The correlation of data is pretty straightforward – as rates began to decrease in 2010, the average loan amount for the year trended upward, and after 2012 when rates went on a two-year climb, average loan amounts responded by dropping. It’s interesting to note that other than the drastic change in 2012, which led to a responsively less ideal next two years, the data was pretty consistent in trending one direction. Even when rates had risen for the second straight year in 2014, they were still lower than 2011 or 2010, and when they began to drop again in 2015 and 2016, average loan amounts shot up to the highest they were in the entire period.

In an announcement made by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, FHA is reducing its annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) by 25 basis points. This reduction applies to most new mortgages with closing/disbursement dates on or after January 27, 2017.

The action is in response to the current risk environment. The Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF) has increased in health for four straight years and mortgage rates are increasing forcing mortgage credit costs to go up.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? You shouldn’t just set goals for your personal life though; lenders should also set business goals for themselves, and set out to provide better service to their customers, get bigger returns, and improve overall performance. Fortunately, with Mortech at your side, these goals you set can be a lot more achievable than something like going to the gym every day.

With that in mind, here are four things you can do right now to start improving your business throughout the coming year, all with Mortech’s help along the way.

The past year has been a busy one for the mortgage world. With 2016 in its final few days, we wanted to compare this year to 2015, and look at any changes year-to-year – something we did with 2015’s statistics this time a year ago.

Across the board, mortgage data took mostly positive turns over the past year. Average mortgage rates saw a decline – to be expected with the Fed’s choice not to raise rates – but the average LTV for the year also shrank compared to the year prior. Both of these are in spite of slightly lower average FICO scores, however that difference from a year ago is the most minimal of the three. Moving forward, average rates will likely discontinue their two-year decline, as the Fed has already announced that Fed Funds Rate increases will happen more than once in 2017.

As for months with the most lock activity, January went from first to worst in the twelve-month span, going from the month with the most locks in 2015 to the least in 2016. Meanwhile, August took over the top spot for most locks this year, which would make sense considering that rates were hitting their lowest point before starting to climb again in October and November.

This week we're showcasing new Associate Account Manager, Mike Russell. Mike lives in Lincoln with his wife Samantha.

Favorite things to do on his days off: I enjoy listening to music, seeing family and friends, and spending time with my wife and our three dogs.

Favorite place to travel: I enjoy travelling to my hometown to spend time on the ranch.

Favorite time of the year: Fall because of Husker football!

What made him want to work at Mortech: I enjoy the atmosphere and the people I work with every day.

One interesting fact about him: I went to a one-room schoolhouse as an elementary student, consisting of only two other people in my class.

Over the last four years, people have dreamed of digitizing the mortgage process. As more online loan origination fintech disruptors have emerged over the last year, the mortgage industry has been put on notice, and their effect on the market is obvious.

At Mortech, we live by a set of core values, one of which is “Move Fast, Think Big”. Over the last year, my peers at Mortech and I have been working with some of the brightest minds in the industry that are moving fast and thinking big, by creating a better user experience for borrowers. 

In the last five years, lenders have realized that if they want to compete on price rather than just being able to offer a product to their customers, they need to work with more lenders to get better rates. This movement has led to most lenders investing in a product and pricing engine to manage their rate sheets so they don't have to worry about the tedious and time-consuming work of comparing rate sheets, and making sure the rate offered to the borrower is correct. Now that lenders have this technology, what is the next step?

As the end date for the HARP program draws near, it appears the program has done its job. Total refinances stand at 3,418,854, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Although these types of refinances continue on their steady decline, they still helped 18,310 borrowers refinance their mortgages through June this year. According to the FHFA, more than 323,000 borrowers still qualify for the program.

Mortech recently announced a new integration with Daric, a point-of-sale and application automation system. Combined with Mortech’s ability to provide customers with updated, accurate rate information, Daric provides borrowers with tools that help them automate much of the borrowing process, and streamline the mortgage process for both lender and borrower. This integration will make the entire process easier for lenders, saving them time, and helping them convert more leads.