Good afternoon all! Last week I attended a seminar sponsored by Washinton Mutual and Genworth Financial. I was heartened by how many loan originators were there to learn. Who said our industry is dying!
Here are some great statistics they passed on. Conventional conforming loan volume is up 42%, subprime is off 66%, and FHA originations are up 33% year-to-date. Home Possible and My Community loan programs are up over 200%. One of the presenters stated mortgages will continue to be originated in healthy numbers as long as the interest rate doesn't climb above 7%. I agree with him.
More statistics. 36% of purchases are first-time homebuyers. 98% of purchases are financed and 75% of the borrowers put down less than 10%. Further, 45% put no money down. 63% of first-time homebuyers were younger than 34, 86% made less than $100,000 and 27% were female. 78% of purchases were existing homes and 84% used the internet. 84% also used a realtor. If a homeowner moved, it was within 13 miles.
So it's fairly clear where we need to target our marketing based on the above numbers. I think sometimes we get stuck, especially now. I was reading an article in Broker magazine today and they said our natural inclination when things slow down is to cut costs. Not a bad move, obviously, although the article suggested this is the precise time to increase our marketing efforts. We all should know how to do our jobs. It's just a matter of getting after it!
The presenters at the seminar concluded with the question "which target market are you going to go after?" Here's a great website they suggested. www.mybestsegments.com. The seminar hosters believe we're in the midst of a 15-18 month correction that should start reversing itself the start of 2009. The question is, what are we doing now? Have a great weekend!
Paul
Paul McFadden
Thanks, Tony and Darcy. Your comments are appreciated!
Thanks, Scott. That's nice of you. Take care.
Paul