A survey recently conducted by The Lenders One Cooperative, a national alliance of independent mortgage bankers, correspondent lenders, and suppliers of mortgage products and services, shows that 66% of mortgage professionals believe first-time home buyers will offer the greatest opportunity to drive business growth in 2017.
The second-greatest opportunity lies in increasing rental prices that are pushing buyers to purchase homes instead of continuing to rent (20%), the survey shows.
On the flip side, 39% of respondents say they believe that higher interest rates could have the greatest negative impact on the mortgage industry’s growth in 2017.
In addition, a majority (58%) of respondents say they are concerned about the impact the November presidential elections could have on the mortgage industry.
Looking at other key trends, nearly half (47%) of respondents say, from what they’re hearing from their customers, borrowers want more online and/or mobile access to information and the status of requests to improve the loan process.
Partly for that reason, 64% of respondents say they believe adapting new technologies to drive efficiencies would help lenders stay competitive while trying to increase margins in an increasingly commoditized industry.
The survey also asked respondents for their feedback on how things are going so far with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA–RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which went into effect on Oct. 3, 2015.
A majority of survey respondents (58%) say the top TRID-related challenge is dealing with process and workflow changes concerning when the loan estimate must be delivered (within three business days).
In addition, consolidation of existing documents into the two new disclosures (loan estimate and closing disclosure) was a concern for a small number of respondents (8%).
“While the mortgage industry is often adjusting to regulatory and compliance uncertainty, the issues around TRID have become clearer, enabling lenders to proactively manage workflow challenges and set strategies to better meet consumer needs through technology integration and innovation,” says Bryan Binder, CEO of Lenders One, in a statement.