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Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

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41–50 of 77 posts

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#41
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Law firms cannot be publicly listed in the US, they have to be owned by lawyers.

This idea was entirely new to me. Here's the top Google result on the subject: https://abovethelaw.com/2021/05/will-we-soon-see-an-american...

Legal ethics rules in the US preclude a non-lawyer from controlling or supervising the legal judgment of a lawyer, which makes the notion of non-lawyer shareholders problematic.

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#42
post #39

in the US I find it strange that the mortgage interest rate is almost always fixed for the life of the mortgage. If you took a mortgage at 2% which is well above the Fed's interest rate, then isn't the lender loosing money? Or is that not how it works? I'm from the UK where mortgages can fixed for a definite period, usually 2-5 years, then it changes to a variable rate mortgage (with the same provider), but there's a…

Yeah US has a weird system. The mortgages are packaged up and sold as a bond, so the investor who buys the bond has the interest rate and credit risk. If rates go up the value of these long term bonds go down. The bank or company that sold the original mortgage is protected. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage-backed_security. It really relies on a lot of government coordination.

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#43
post #28

Housing prices are dropping, as would be expected with the interest rate hikes. House prices are set at the margins, just like any asset. Even if the folks with 3% mortgage rates sit tight and don’t sell, there will still be downward pressure on prices because prices are not determined by non-transactions. There are plenty of listings for those who need to exit the market and liquidate, driving inventory up. Just a q…

> House prices are set at the margins, just like any asset. Even if the folks with 3% mortgage rates sit tight and don’t sell, there will still be downward pressure on prices because prices are not determined by non-transactions.

YES! There is a sort of delusion that has taken hold of people who became “house rich” in the past couple years. They seem to think that if they don’t sell, their house will still be worth whatever fantasy number they have in their heads.

It does get me thinking about the psychology of these economic cycles and how the transformation of that delusion to acceptance/sadness on an individual level will impact their buying habits and risk taking. On a large scale, it is easy to see this is sort of spiraling into a protracted recession.

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#44
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Law firms cannot be publicly listed in the US, they have to be owned by lawyers.

This idea was entirely new to me. Here's the top Google result on the subject: https://abovethelaw.com/2021/05/will-we-soon-see-an-american...

Interesting link, thanks!

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#45
post #39

in the US I find it strange that the mortgage interest rate is almost always fixed for the life of the mortgage. If you took a mortgage at 2% which is well above the Fed's interest rate, then isn't the lender loosing money? Or is that not how it works? I'm from the UK where mortgages can fixed for a definite period, usually 2-5 years, then it changes to a variable rate mortgage (with the same provider), but there's a…

> which is well above the Fed's interest rate, then isn't the lender loosing money?

There is a unique market for long-term rates hedging among American mortgage traders. And the government backstops the risk.

Keep in mind, too, that America uses capital markets. Most of the world uses banks. (The U.K. being a puzzling counterfactual.)

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#46
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look at the national picture in the USA prices haven't really budged by much at all, it would seem reasonable that they will but when and by how much is the million dollar question: https://www.zillow.com/home-values/102001/united-states/ https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market

Housing affordability has never been as low as it is currently and we are headed into a recession. I think large drops (40-50%) in most regions are likely.

Yeah I think a correction is likely - haven't seen anyone being nearly that pessimistic (or optimistic probably if you're younger and in the USA) but shifts from 5-15% depending on the market have been predicted by plenty of firms.

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#47
post #39

in the US I find it strange that the mortgage interest rate is almost always fixed for the life of the mortgage. If you took a mortgage at 2% which is well above the Fed's interest rate, then isn't the lender loosing money? Or is that not how it works? I'm from the UK where mortgages can fixed for a definite period, usually 2-5 years, then it changes to a variable rate mortgage (with the same provider), but there's a…

This link might help explain the taxpayer subsidies that result in the 30 year fixed with no prepayment penalty:

https://himaxwell.com/resources/blog/30-year-fix-3-gse-refor...

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#48
post #32
post #28

Housing prices are dropping, as would be expected with the interest rate hikes. House prices are set at the margins, just like any asset. Even if the folks with 3% mortgage rates sit tight and don’t sell, there will still be downward pressure on prices because prices are not determined by non-transactions. There are plenty of listings for those who need to exit the market and liquidate, driving inventory up. Just a q…

If you look at the national picture in the USA prices haven't really budged by much at all, it would seem reasonable that they will but when and by how much is the million dollar question: https://www.zillow.com/home-values/102001/united-states/ https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market

I suspect what is happening is that the affordability crunch is causing a noticeable drop in demand in the HCOL areas (hence the pronounced decrease in prices in the Bay Area I noted in the original comment).

The availability of remote work and the retreat of the HCOL population to other areas in the US is likely causing an increase in demand elsewhere, as we have seen as a macro trend since the beginning of the pandemic. This demand will keep supplies low in LCOL areas.

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#49
post #28

Housing prices are dropping, as would be expected with the interest rate hikes. House prices are set at the margins, just like any asset. Even if the folks with 3% mortgage rates sit tight and don’t sell, there will still be downward pressure on prices because prices are not determined by non-transactions. There are plenty of listings for those who need to exit the market and liquidate, driving inventory up. Just a q…

> House prices are set at the margins, just like any asset. Even if the folks with 3% mortgage rates sit tight and don’t sell, there will still be downward pressure on prices because prices are not determined by non-transactions. YES! There is a sort of delusion that has taken hold of people who became “house rich” in the past couple years. They seem to think that if they don’t sell, their house will still be worth w…

Similarly, the delusion of the "house poor" hoping for another 2008 is frankly hilarious.

The difference is, if you picked up a house at 2.7% you will be winning for a long time. There are fewer ARMs, which means a small more protracted "collapse". Housing supply is still non-existent and will be into the near future. Wages will need to keep pace with housing costs in order to provide anyone a chance to succeed. Even after a so-called "recession" in housing they'll still be too expensive. For example, if my house dropped 50% in value, it'd still be way over what I bought it for.

The only deluded people are the ones not holding property. Make no mistake, if you didn't buy/refinance in 2020 you lost out on a literal once in a lifetime opportunity to lock a massive short against the fed.

Re: Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse

#50
post #28

Housing prices are dropping, as would be expected with the interest rate hikes. House prices are set at the margins, just like any asset. Even if the folks with 3% mortgage rates sit tight and don’t sell, there will still be downward pressure on prices because prices are not determined by non-transactions. There are plenty of listings for those who need to exit the market and liquidate, driving inventory up. Just a q…

I like how Redfin has deleted price changes for recently listed homes.

You can see the same house on Zillow list at $1.1M in Jun, and then re-list at $900k in Aug, and then at $800k in Oct.

But Redfin intentionally removed it in the past couple months, and now they only show the most recent list date and price.

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