US home values – they could drop, president says

Although she noted that there was currently no demand for rate and term refinance, she said that “now is the time to act on refinancing or securing the best interest rate for home purchases before (rates) go higher”.

She revealed that NMB was on a recruitment drive, having hired 100 new staff in May alone, despite a drop in profits. “We’re growing. We are not as profitable as we were in 2020 and 2021 because the margins have compressed from the investor perspective, but we’re actually hiring, and we see that there’s a lot of talent that is out there right now.”

She pointed out that with inflation soaring, the only way to bring down the cost of originating a loan and do more volume with the same number of employees will be to deploy greater tech and innovation “so that we’re ready for the next refinance boom when interest rates drop”.

Regarding the impact of a possible recession on the mortgage industry, Hall said it would “cleanse the industry of the people who did refinance business”, adding that it will take “a higher skilled savvy loan officer to survive this and it’s going to make the industry stronger”.