It’s been a bumpy ride for mortgage companies lately. Some lenders have gone out of business, merged with other companies or narrowed their focus. And more changes are likely in 2023.
What does all this mean for borrowers?
Here are answers to common questions, whether you’re shopping for a mortgage or paying off a home loan.
What’s Behind the Shakeout?
A key factor: higher mortgage rates. Demand for home loans plummeted last year as the Federal Reserve raised a key interest rate to control inflation and mortgage rates spiked in turn. The average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage doubled from near-historic lows in early January 2022 to almost 6.4 percent at year’s end, according to Freddie Mac, an enterprise created by Congress in 1970 to support the U.S. housing finance system….