Or, was it just a long foul ball? By most accounts, President Trump’s address to Congress was a success. He delivered a well thought out, measured speech in a professional, presidential manner. We saw a different side of the new President.
Not everyone was enthralled by his words. The Democrats mostly sat silently through his presentation, rarely applauding any of his initiatives, and more rarely standing to show agreement or consent. It wasn’t much different than what Republicans did during previous speeches given by former President Obama.
Sad isn’t it that adults could act so childish, but I guess that’s just how politics work. We wonder why nothing meaningful gets done in Washington.
For lenders and banks, there was some talk about reduced regulations and more jobs. This may be a spark to help improve employment and wage growth.
This would be good as it may make it a little easier for lenders to lend and borrowers to qualify. But, this will happen only if we have sufficient affordable housing to buy. Not much has been said on that issue.
Market odds are now at about 80% that the Fed will raise rates in March. That is a sharp jump from just a week ago.
That seems to signal that they see a strengthening economy. That also means we may see mortgage rates rise as well.
No way to sugar coat it, with rates and home prices rising, and a shortage of affordable homes, lenders will be challenged to keep up production levels buoyed over the past several years by refinances.
Lenders need to take a long, hard, serious look at their business model to determine how they plan to compete in the new rising rate environment.
Realtors and builders will be challenged as well and they’ll look to their lending partners to provide the products, services, and expertise to get their buyers qualified for loans.
It’s time to become a lean, mean, lending machine. Find ways to streamline operations and reduce fixed overhead and loan origination expenses. Are you ready to meet the challenge?
Once again, the game has changed. Play different.