[David] I got a question, Mr. Kittle, I want to get this off all of us, the panel involved in this, but anything that you have for us before we get into the jumbo loan discussion?
[Kittle] No, I think overall usually come to me around, production and it’s flat right now, but we’re still in winter and we’re in not quite to mid-February yet, and not quite to the spring time when people get a little bit excited and we still have an inventory problem. Lack of homes for sale. I’ve seen a couple of reports lately, I’m sure everyone has, where prices have begun to move back up a little bit in certain areas as well.
[David] Certain markets, yeah.
[Kittle] Yeah, in certain markets. You know that along with interest rates being flat and the cost of doing a loan is not the best scenario in the world, but at least we’re coming into spring. We’ll see how it pans out.
[David] Yeah, I think many are feeling that we’re at the bottom of this low activity mode in some of the more struggling markets. Austin, where I live, Austin, Texas we’re definitely not coming out of it, although we’re seeing more activity picking up in the major city in Austin. I live out in the suburbs, out in the burbs, good distance out in the burbs, and we just have not seen that begun to happen here yet. So I think number of factors contributing to that, but it’s very regionalized. We’re seeing many parts of the country still offers being made the day of the listing. Multiple offers on the same day. So it is very regionalized and we’re gonna continue to see that. Be those who be so fortunate to be in the markets that are hot, and be patient. If you’re not, don’t focus on rates. Focus in on getting the realtor relationship and use some of the business intelligent tools that are out there as the number one thing. We talk about business intelligence tools you should be able to laser in. What was shocking, David was the number of realtors that wrote one or less sales last year. It is staggering. So we need business intelligence tools to be zeroing in. That’s why I look at RETR, I look at as well as Modex. These tools will allow you to go in and see exactly what are writing, what, and some of the other tools. Have di ability to predict. Which realtors are gonna be and what markets are be going on. I’m talking with Zonda right now about some of their data. It’s a builder data. It’s really astounding how you can start predicting where to be going. So very interesting stuff on all of that. But check out MBS Live, get signed up for it, whatever you do and David, thanks for your thoughts.
David G. Kittle, CMB is a highly respected leader in the mortgage industry, with over 45 years of experience. He is the Co-Founder and Chairman of The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), a mortgage lending cooperative providing members with access to resources and tools to improve their business operations.
Kittle began his mortgage banking career with American Fletcher Mortgage Company as a top-producing loan officer in 1978 moving to the management side in 1986 with Southmark Mortgage. He opened Associates Mortgage Group, the first of his three lending companies in 1994.
Kittle served as MORPAC Chairman for MBA, from 2004-2006. He is past President of both the Louisville and Kentucky Mortgage Bankers Associations, as well as leading the industry through its most tumultuous period as Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Washington DC in 2009. Kittle has testified before congress 14 times.
Kittle has been a driving force behind the growth and success of TMC, working to bring together mortgage lenders from across the country to share best practices and collaborate on key industry issues. Kittle has also been a vocal advocate for innovation and technology adoption in the mortgage industry, urging lenders to embrace new tools and strategies to improve their operations and better serve their customers.
Kittle is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences, sharing his expertise on a variety of topics related to mortgage lending.
He resides in Louisville, Kentucky, he has four children and two grandchildren.