Mortgage Intermediation Costs and the Risk of Inflated Pricing
Research Finding Mortgage intermediaries earned an average of roughly 142 basis points per loan between 2008 and 2014. Dollar Impact On a $500,000 loan this equates to roughly $7,100 in…
Janco Damas
CEO, Bank Interest Rate Research
Inside Mortgage Pricing: Why Two Borrowers Can Pay $60,000 Different for the Same Loan
Core Finding Mortgage rates vary significantly across lenders even for borrowers with identical credit profiles. Evidence Consumer Financial Protection Bureau research analyzing Loan Estimate data reveals substantial price dispersion in…
Inside FHA Closing Costs: What a Study of Loan Estimates Reveals
Core Finding Closing costs for FHA mortgages vary widely across lenders, even for borrowers with similar profiles and loan sizes. Research Sample Urban Institute researchers analyzed FHA Loan Estimates to…
What 267 Loan Estimates Reveal About the Cost of Mortgage Origination
One of the central questions in mortgage shopping is surprisingly simple: how much does it actually cost to originate a mortgage? Consumers often focus primarily on the interest rate, yet…
How Mortgage Marketplaces Make Money and Impact on Consumer Loan Pricing
Marketplace Reality Mortgage comparison websites often function as lead marketplaces rather than true loan marketplaces. Consumer information is typically sold to lenders who pay to contact the borrower. Hidden Economics…
The Consumer Problem With Online Mortgage Marketplaces
Core Argument Mortgage marketplaces can be useful discovery tools, but they are not the same thing as a universal mortgage application or a binding loan marketplace. Why It Matters Borrowers…
The $9,800 Origination Fee
Not all loan costs appear in the interest rate. Some appear elsewhere on the Loan Estimate. A borrower recently sent a Loan Estimate for a $620,000 purchase loan that appeared…
When Two Identical Borrowers Receive Different Rates
Mortgage pricing can vary dramatically even when borrowers appear identical on paper. A recent case illustrates how this happens. Two borrowers contacted BANKIRR within days of each other. Both were…
The Half-Point Hidden in Plain Sight
Bonds dictate mortgage rates and bonds experienced a bit of volatility this morning in response to the Supreme Court ruling on tariffs.
Understanding Income & Asset Documentation Across Loan Types
When evaluating mortgage options, the level of income and asset documentation required varies significantly by loan type.