The ability to point, click, and swipe their way to a mortgage loan is all the rage today. Popularity aside, mortgage bankers remain circumspect about online lending, according to a recent Lenders One Cooperative [1], a subsidiary of Altisource Portfolio Solutions [2], poll on its members’ use of technology and their expectations for the market in the year ahead.
Of particular importance to poll takers: shielding customers’ personally identifiable information during the online mortgage originations and trading processes, the poll found.
“Mortgage professionals today realize the need for technology to drive efficiency, reduce the cost per loan, and streamline daily tasks and interactions with customers,” said Michael Kuentz, President of Lenders One. “At the same time, there is rising concern regarding privacy protection as lenders increasingly integrate technology into traditional processes.”
Seventy-four percent said they are very concerned about guarding customers’ personally identifiable information during the mortgage originations and trading processes. That said, members maintained that innovative new platforms have the potential to greatly enhance efficiency and streamline processes.
In fact, 56 percent asserted that improving operational efficiencies was the most influential impetus for investing in new technologies, followed by providing a superior customer experience (26 percent). Technology is also positively affecting traditional mortgage processes as well, the poll discovered, with 53 percent of respondents noting that technology could be most beneficial in helping streamline workflow.
Poll takers also touched on workforce training initiatives, with 42 percent noting that professional development and training was the most important step their company is taking to entice and retain employees.
When weighing in on what shape the real estate market will take next year and whether it will be a buyers’ or a sellers’ market, the majority foresee that sellers will again prevail in 2018: 46 percent say it will be a modest sellers’ market, and 25 believe it will be a heavy sellers’ market.
Which factor did respondents think will have the greatest impact on the mortgage industry’s growth in 2018? Forty-seven percent said potentially higher interest rates, followed by continued increases in home values (18 percent) and innovation in banks’ choices of mortgage products (17 percent).
To view the full report, click here [3].