Mortgage Mix: Rates Remain Elevated; Wells Fargo Pursues Partnership With 3D Home Printer

Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s biweekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it every other Friday afternoon.

As of Thursday, May 28, mortgage rates remained elevated compared to past months, but still fell to their lowest point since May 14. However, the overall elevated stature has seen mortgage application activity decrease per the latest findings from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Refinance activity and interest has also seen a sharp drop owing to elevated rates.
Despite overall elevated mortgage rates, all-cash home sales reached their lowest share in six years, attributed to mortgage rates being down comparatively and buyers holding more purchasing power.
Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO), which is currently attempting an acquisition of Cross Country Mortgage (CCM) in a bidding war with United Wholesale Mortgage, has adjourned a special meeting of stockholders wherein the board recommended stockholders vote in favor of the acquisition of CCM. The board and stockholders are set to reconvene on June 11.
Wells Fargo has announced a partnership with 3D printed home manufacturer Icon, wherein Wells Fargo will write mortgages for Icon manufactured homes as well as offering buyers a 50-point lender credit to use Wells Fargo mortgage products.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is ending all remote work, ordering its roughly 1,100 employees to report five days a week to a new Washington, D.C., headquarters. All staff—including approximately 450 employees who live outside the D.C. area—are being reassigned to the CFPB’s new location. The rollout will be phased. The move comes as acting Director Russell Vought continues his broader effort to shrink the bureau, with the Trump administration simultaneously seeking a court ruling that would allow it to cut CFPB headcount from roughly 1,750 to around 550.