1/31/2024 0 Comments Rocket homes![]() is a portfolio of businesses that includes Rocket Mortgage as well as other ventures such as Rocket Homes, Rocket Loans and Rocket Money. The company's total liquidity was $8.1 billion, including $900 million cash on hand, at the end of the first quarter. ![]() Rocket's total expenses for the quarter came in at nearly $1.1 billion for the quarter, down from $1.6 billion a year ago. "Interested homebuyers are acclimating to the current rate environment, but the lack of inventory remains a primary obstacle to affordability." "Spring is typically the busiest season for the residential housing market and, despite rates hovering in the mid-six percent range, this year is no different," according to a Freddie Mac note. Mortgage rates ticked down slightly this week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, which pointed to "volatility in the banking sector and commentary from the Federal Reserve on its policy outlook." The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 6.39% this week, down slightly from a week ago but still up more than a percentage point from a year ago. It expects housing starts and home sales to remain roughly flat. The forecast has mortgage origination volume increasing from $333 billion in Q1 to $461 billion in Q2. In its latest mortgage finance forecast, the Mortgage Bankers Association has 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates moving to 6.2% in the second quarter - down from 6.4% in the first quarter but well above 5.3% a year ago. The Federal Reserve this week announced its 10th rate hike since March 2022, bringing its federal funds rate to a 16-year high as it continues its bid to bring down inflation. Rocket posted its first-ever net loss as a publicly-traded company in the fourth quarter of 2022 and saw full-year profits plummet 88% from the year prior, reflecting a contraction in the mortgage industry fueled by rising interest rates. The company's stock closed up less than 1% Thursday to $8.70 per share and was trading up after-hours following the earnings release. Rocket has a more optimistic outlook for the second quarter, when it expects adjusted revenue of $850 million to $1 billion. "Their recently-launched Sell+ and Buy+ programs should help them in the downturn and when the market turns around." "The downturn in home sales knocked out three-quarters of their revenue, but they managed expenses about as well as they could by cutting salaries, and administrative and marketing expenses," Erik Gordon, a professor at Michigan State University's Ross School of Business, said via email. Sell+ offers sellers listing their home for sale with a Rocket Homes verified partner agent a rebate check for 1% of the sale price from Rocket Homes after closing. Purchase clients can save money on upfront costs if they work with a Rocket Homes partner real estate agent and obtain financing with Rocket Mortgage. Last month, Rocket introduced Buy+ and Sell+, a collaboration between Rocket Mortgage and Rocket Homes - the company's proprietary home search platform and real estate agent referral network business. We'll need home inventory levels to cooperate in order to have a successful home-buying season.” "That said, we’re still seeing challenges in home inventory levels, and existing home sales have declined to levels not seen since 2008. "We believe that the increases we’re seeing in this very important metric is primarily attributable to the investments we’ve made in the client and real estate agent purchase experience, and innovative consumer-focused solutions such as Buy+," he said. He reported that from March to April, purchase approval letters were up 11% and were "trending much higher" compared to a year ago. "We're encouraged by the fact that consumer demand for homes is robust, and we’re seeing a healthy purchase pipeline as we enter the spring home-buying season," said outgoing CEO Jay Farner. They highlighted new offerings, including the new Rocket Visa Signature Credit Card. On the company's earnings call, executives characterized it as a "strong" quarter and said they see strong home-purchase demand, even as housing inventory constraints present challenges. Rocket's quarterly gain-on-sale margin fell year-over-year from 3.01% to 2.39% in Q1. The Detroit-based company generated $17 billion in closed loan origination volume during the first three months of the year, down 68% from a year ago. The company reported adjusted revenue of $882 million, exceeding its forecast of between $700 million and $850 million but down sharply from the $1.9 billion in adjusted revenue it reported in the first quarter of 2022. Results were down sharply from a year ago, when Rocket recorded more than $1 billion in profits on net revenue of nearly $2.7 billion. recorded a net loss of $411 million on net revenue of $666 million in the first quarter of 2023, the parent company of mortgage lending giant Rocket Mortgage reported Thursday.
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