Other factors pointing to a shorter down cycle: positive home buyer demographics, extremely low delinquency rates and improved household net worth and debt service capability. “As we look at data on the U.S. population by age, a very large cohort is in the 28- to 38-year-old bucket, which happens to be prime home-buying age,” Cameron indicates. “This bodes well for the home purchase market in the next five to 10 years.”
“These factors may help hasten us toward the day when we can return to ‘normal’ with revenue rationalizing, capacity adjusted, and a return to profits that are reasonable based on the risks of the business,” Cameron says.
A second Insights Report article, written by Stratmor Customer Experience Director Mike Seminari, discusses the importance of communications for lenders as they navigate the current downturn. In “How Can Mortgage Originators Improve Their Communications Skills?” Seminari points to the fact that nearly one in four borrowers who had a problem in some area of their mortgage journey attributed the issue to communication. Not only was communication the most frequently cited issue, but it was also among the most damaging of problems, causing the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to drop to -60, all but negating a chance at a referral. Seminari suggests three steps originators can take now to avoid the pitfalls of poor communication and keep borrowers on the “happy path” for their mortgage loan.
Read the complete report.