Mortgage applications decreased 6.3% for the week ending Oct. 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

Key takeaways:

– The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week
– Unadjusted, the index decreased 6% compared with the previous week
– The Refinance Index decreased 7% from the previous week—22% lower YoY
– The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5% from the previous week
– The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5% compared with the previous week

The takeaway:

Refi applications continue to dip as mortgage rates increase, with the share down 63.3% of total applications.

“Refinance applications declined for the fourth week as rates increased, bringing the refinance index to its lowest level since July 2021. The 30-year fixed rate has increased 20 basis points over the past month and reached 3.23% last week—the highest since April 2021. The 15-year fixed rate increased to 2.54%, which is the highest since July,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting, in a statement. “Purchase activity declined and was 12% lower than a year ago, within the annual comparison range that it has been over the past six weeks. Insufficient housing supply and elevated home-price growth continue to limit options for would-be buyers.”

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Shawna Alt grew up in the real estate business, having watched her mother run her own company. Even though she didn’t initially have the desire, she found herself following in her mother’s successful footsteps.

After graduating from the College of Charleston with a degree in psychology, Alt returned to Madison, Wisconsin, to determine what her next steps would be.

She met with one of her mom’s friends and colleagues, Jim Imhoff, who was CEO of First Realty at the time, and he suggested that she give real estate a try.

Today, Alt serves as president of First Weber, Inc., a company where she’s been part of the leadership team going on 17 years.

About three years ago, Alt sat down with the team to do what she describes as a “typical planning session.” One of the things discussed? Whether or not the buyer, the seller or the agent was their actual client.

“When we took a step back and looked at what we all did every day, it was very clear to us that the agent was our client,” Alt says. “From that point on, we focused on what we were doing every day to help our agents build their business.”

That led to three primary questions: “What do we do?” “How do we do it?” and “Why do we do it?”

“Every type of policy we have—and every tool we utilize—comes back to fulfilling those questions,” Alt says. “We focus a lot on being a resource for our agents, getting feedback and identifying what it is that’s specific and unique to each agent. We then customize the tools we offer based upon the needs they have.”

While some agents are focused on achieving a specific volume or closed unit goal, others are more concerned with achieving the elusive work/life balance. Then there are those who are more mobile oriented as opposed to those who prefer to continue working with paper files.

“We reach out to them on a regular basis so that we can provide them with the tools that best meet their needs,” says Alt, which ultimately laid the foundation for their utilization of Main Street, a suite of front office tools under Constellation1—the platform that drives everything.

“This is where we work with Constellation1,” explains Alt. “It does everything—all of our contact management, our marketing, all of our document and transaction management. We’re able to customize everything from print pieces to electronic marketing pieces as well as the way in which the transaction management piece functions with the agent and interacts with the First Weber app.”

The firm also has its own print shop, where graphic designers create the marketing and direct mail pieces utilized by the firm. All of this comes from the content database that Constellation1 offers, and is one of the primary reasons behind the firm’s success.

“One of the biggest benefits that Constellation1 brings to the table is their willingness to customize their products to meet our needs,” Alt says. “Their approach to meeting our needs melds perfectly with our approach to meet the needs of our agents.”

As of August 2021, there were approximately 1,100 agents at First Weber.

“What makes a good agent is someone who has a growth mindset and is dedicated to helping others,” concludes Alt. “We bring the necessary training and tools to support the business of our agents. They bring the motivation and desire to serve their clients.”

For more information, please visit constellation1.com.

Keith Loria is a contributing editor to RISMedia.

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As expected, the end of federal protections in September has coincided with a significant uptick in foreclosures, as default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions spiked 34% in Q3 of this year according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions®, potentially foreshadowing a difficult winter for homeowners still struggling through the pandemic. 

The extent of any looming crisis remains unclear, as industry experts have hoped lenders will work with distressed homeowners to prevent the more drastic consequences of financial hardships.  

But without governmental protections, it appears that many banks are willing to at least start the process. New foreclosure filings in September 2021 were more than double compared to September 2020, as lenders hurried to begin the process as soon as protections ended, according to the report. 

“So far the government and the mortgage industry have worked together to do an extraordinary job of preventing millions of unnecessary foreclosures using the foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance program,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at ATTOM subsidiary RealtyTrac, in a statement. “But there are hundreds of thousands of borrowers scheduled to exit forbearance in the next two months, and it’s possible that we might see a higher percentage of those borrowers default on their loans.” 

By the Numbers 

In news that could be construed as positive, foreclosures overall are far below levels seen in recent years and are very unlikely to breach those benchmarks by year’s end, even with significant increases according to the report. 

“Despite the increased level of foreclosure activity in September, we’re still far below historically normal numbers,” said Sharga. “September foreclosure actions were almost 70%lower than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in September of 2019, and Q3 foreclosure activity was 60%lower than the same quarter that year.” 

That is almost certainly because of forbearance and the federal foreclosure moratorium, rather than a reflection on the broader economic outlook for borrowers. And the situation for many could still be dire. 

Bank repossessions also jumped 22% in Q3, according to the report; and last month saw an 8% increase in completed foreclosures over the previous month, indicating that many borrowers are not able to defer payments or exit foreclosure in other ways.  

Overall, a total of 45,517 properties had foreclosure filings in Q3 2021. 

Geography 

The rate of foreclosures in Q3 of 2021 did not appear to correlate geographically with any particularly strong pattern. In order, Nevada, Illinois, Delaware, New Jersey and Florida were the top states, all seeing more than one out of every 2,000 properties in the foreclosure process. As far as metros, Atlantic City, New Jersey (one in every 709 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Peoria, Illinois (one in every 754); Bakersfield, California (one in every 923); Cleveland, Ohio (one in every 936); and Las Vegas, Nevada (one in every 1,167) were the hardest hit. 

Least affected states were decidedly more rural and included South Dakota, West Virginia, Oregon, Montana and North Dakota. All had foreclosure rates less than one out of every 15,000 properties.  

As far as completed foreclosures, Illinois and Florida (with 965 and 564 properties repossessed, respectively) were joined by Pennsylvania (480 properties); Michigan (401) and New York (370). Overall, 2,682 housing units nationwide completed foreclosures in September, up 33% from a year ago. 

Jesse Williams is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news ideas to jwilliams@rismedia.com.

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NAR PULSE—REALTORS® take pride in stepping in and stepping up wherever there’s a need. It’s what you do, it’s who you R. We need you, your region and all regions to channel your inner R and join together for RRF’s Regional Rally. We’re challenging all regions to step up and participate in the rally to aid any community in the wake of a disaster! Check out your region’s progress here.

Register for October’s Virtual Green Home Tour
Virtual Green Home Tour Series continues on 10/21 at 3 pm ET from Northern Virginia! Join us for a tour of Tall Oaks, a high-performance infill project in Reston, Virginia, of modern townhomes and flats certified to the National Green Building Standard® (NGBS). Encourage your agents to register to learn how to market certified green homes to prospective buyers.

NEW! Introducing the Recently Launched L.E.A.D. Courses
Encourage your agents to LEARN key leadership skills. ELEVATE their position. ACCELERATE their career. DELIVER results. The new L.E.A.D. courses offer REALTORS® a valuable framework to build their leadership competency and develop full potential as a leader. Available now!

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