I recently attended the virtual MBA (Mortgage Bankers’ Association) Spring Conference, which provided a lot of useful information on economic and technological developments in our industry. Here are a few highlights from the various sessions:
Economic Forecast
GDP growth is expected to rebound significantly in 2021, with continued growth in 2022 and 2023. This will result in rising interest rates. Purchase originations will continue to increase over the next several years, but refinance originations will drop significantly, resulting in a decrease in overall mortgage originations back to 2019 levels (graphic below).
Tech Solutions
There was a continuing strong focus on digital mortgage and electronic closing solutions, with a number of vendor showcases such as Encompass eClose and Notarize. This confirmed that the pandemic has accelerated the industry’s existing trend toward conducting more business electronically, and that lenders are increasingly interested in eClosings.