TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1433132
M R EP O RT | 15 COVER STORY continued embrace and evolution of remote capabilities, Jingst said. "The borrower experience has been redefined. It's no longer 'I want free toasters' or 'popcorn in the lobby'; now it's 'I want to be able to get a loan from my couch.' The next big evolution is going to be user experience." One of the lenders that's most prominently promoted the ease of technology when it comes to ob- taining a loan is Rocket Mortgage. In late October, the company partnered with Salesforce to make the company's loan-origination technology available to banks and credit unions through Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. Licensed mortgage loan officers working with financial institu- tions will be able to use Rocket Mortgage's technology direct in Salesforce Financial Services Cloud as their point-of-sale loan origination system and loan origi- nation system. Additionally, the combined technologies will enable lenders to offer the loans without the need for underwriters, proces- sors, or compliance or closing personnel, since Rocket Mortgage will handle all of those details. "This will be the first time that a home lender will provide an end-to-end 'mortgage-as-a-service' solution through the Salesforce Financial Cloud, said Jay Franer, Rocket Companies CEO and Vice Chairman, in a prepared state- ment. "Financial institutions can now combine those relationships they've already established, while leveraging Rocket Mortgage's transformational platform." "It's an interesting thing," Clarke said of the partnership. "So many people have looked at Salesforce as a platform to work with. And technology is one of those things that Rocket clearly has a really strong leg up on. It could be exciting to see what they develop and what they do together. That said, there are a lot of platforms that are extraordinarily effec- tive, that don't necessarily have all of the same firepower that Salesforce/Rocket combination." Rocket has already been disrupting the industry, so the combination may not have much of an effect beyond demonstrating that technology will continue to transform the mortgage/real estate industry, Clarke added. Moving the Mortgage Market Forward W hile there are some dif- fering views for the 2022 market, one item all in the mort- gage and housing markets agree on is that there will be continued inflation and that interest rates will rise. Experts interviewed by MReport expect mortgage interest rates to increase by 25 to 50 basis points by the end of the year, with most leaning toward the higher end of that range. Even if rates rise a little higher than that range, any amount above 50 basis points would likely be short-lived. Rates remain- ing at those elevated levels for a protracted period could result in some recessionary pressure, Koss noted. Rising interest rates could also cool the home purchase market somewhat, Jingst said, but home values should hold up, so refinancing will continue to be attractive for many. However, Clarke expects refis to drop off as much as 40% to DS News is the only publication in the country solely dedicated to providing default servicing professionals with news and content focused on their industry. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Connect with us online at DSNews.com. SUBSCRIBE TO THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS THEFIVESTARINSTITUTE