As mortgage rates continue to plunge to record low levels, institutions are finding creative solutions to handle the additional surge of business.
Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.29 percent for the previous week, the lowest rate in the survey’s history, dating to 1971.
“Meanwhile, mortgage applications increased 10 percent last week from one year ago and show no signs of slowing down,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a release accompanying the report. “Given these strong indicators in rates and sales, as well as recent increases in new construction, it’s clear the housing market continues to be a positive force for the broader economy.”
JPMorgan Chase announced one way to deal with the surge in business, and that’s to boost staff in its mortgage division.
Chase told its home-equity loan staff that half of its members would be transferred to mortgages, amounting to dozens of workers, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.
In a statement to Dodd Frank Update, Chase confirmed the news.
“More and more customers are buying and refinancing their homes with Chase,” said Amy Bonitatibus, chief marketing and communications officer for Chase Home Lending. “As such, we’re shifting resources to handle the increased volume and continue to close loans fast and on-time. Recently, we increased our on-time closing guarantee to $2,500.”
Mortgage applications the week before Freddie Mac’s report rose 10 percent on the purchase side from a year earlier and 224 percent on refinances year-over-year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Quicken Loans stated publicly that the Monday and Tuesday following MBA’s survey were the two biggest days for mortgage applications in the company’s history.