– As the title industry pivots to purchase and home equity, Ben Bellomo shares his on-site takeaways from this year’s NS3 & TLTA conferences –

Now that I’ve had some time to decompress, I’d like to share some observations and takeaways from the two recent industry events that I attended in June: October Research’s National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in Orlando and the Texas Land Title Association Annual Conference (TLTA) in Forth Worth.

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– Intelligent automation allows an organization to augment the workforce to handle spikes in demand or troughs in capacity –

If you’ve followed my recent blog posts, you know that I’m a strong advocate of automation and a true believer that this inevitable trend will create not only a superior customer experience but also improve job satisfaction for employees. Since automation can sometimes be associated with job losses, I realize that this last statement may sound counter-intuitive. Recently, however, I came across a study that supports these views, and had an opportunity to hear first-hand how automation is changing the nature of work at a large title company.

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– As the need for speed continues to play a pivotal role in mortgage origination, the need for smart technology and improved automation will separate the winners from the rest –

The mortgage market has always valued speed: the faster a lender can approve a borrower the more likely that loan will close. It’s why, in recent years, lenders have invested billions to improve their customer experience through innovations like digital point-of-sale solutions and faster verification platforms, and why they are continually pushing partners, like title companies and AMCs, to deliver faster results.

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– As the “big shift” in real estate lending continues with the purchase market taking center stage, new challenges arise for title companies and lenders to grow market share –

The “big shift” in real estate lending is on. As rising mortgage rates spur further declines in refinance transactions and historically low housing inventory limits existing-home sales, title companies and lenders face a challenging time to maintain and grow market share.

In this increasingly competitive environment, companies can leverage operational efficiency tools and market-specific intelligence to enhance customer service and increase the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, which can drive business that, in turn, helps protect margins.

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– In 2022, the dramatic shift from refinance to purchase and the overall market contraction requires new strategies as well as renewed focus on cost and efficiency –

With refinance transactions slowing, 2022 will mark a year of significant change for the title and mortgage industries. As Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American, recently observed:

“The Fed clearly faces a very unique challenge in 2022. How to tame inflation without halting the recovery, and the housing market is entering 2022 with double-digit house price growth, strong underlying demand and near record-low supply. A modest increase in mortgage rates due to tighter monetary policy may actually bring some much-needed house price moderation.”

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