How Technology Impacts The Home Mortgage Landscape

New technology is always affecting the mortgage world. The internet has enabled people to get a home mortgage in Los Angeles without ever having to leave their homes. Today, there are even more options for people with poor credit scores. 

Customers profited from historically low-interest rates, and lenders adopted digital mortgages more aggressively than ever before, accompanying a new era for the mortgage application process.

According to a recent ICE Mortgage Technology report on borrowing and lending, the pandemic has irreversibly changed the way people use technology, and those looking to buy or refinance a home are turning to lenders who provide online tools to complete their home loans from the comfort of their own homes.

The great majority of lenders (99%) believe that technology may help improve the mortgage application process, citing benefits such as simplifying the entire process (74%), reducing time to close (70%), and eliminating data entry (67%).

Last year was a perfect storm for our business, ICE Mortgage Technology president Joe Tyrrell said. 

Not only did you have COVID, which required lenders to transition to virtual workforces, but you also had to continue to conduct business with borrowers in a safe and socially detached manner, all while we saw a historical rise in loan volume.

This compelled many lenders to re-evaluate their technology partners, how they used technology, the systems they relied on, and the tools they relied on. 

According to the poll, the importance of lenders providing digital solutions such as online applications throughout the loan process increased in 2020, with 58% indicating that the availability of an online application will influence their lender decision (up from 50% in 2018). 

While the availability of a mobile app was less likely to influence borrowers’ lender selection in 2020, with 47% indicating availability will factor into their choice (down from 40% in 2018).

Homeowners who used an online application appreciated the streamlined application process (55%), the faster time to close (53%), and the fewer in-person encounters (49%).

Whether they have previously gone through the mortgage loan procedure, 63% of those polled said that an online mortgage process would make purchasing a home easier than an in-person approach.

Tyrrell added that the epidemic had increased the desire for a consistent, digital-first borrowing experience from a borrower’s perspective.

Electronic signatures are quickly becoming the norm, and borrowers want a flawless experience from start to finish. Many lenders pieced together numerous solutions to fulfill borrower requests in 2020, which sometimes resulted in a more complicated, fragmented process.

Currently, the digital tools most typically provided by lenders are online applications and online portals, with more than nine out of ten (91%) supplying both to applicants. 

In 2020, 60.4% of lenders who provide online applications claimed more than half of their loan applications were submitted online, while 38% said more than 80% of their applications were completed online. 

On the other hand, traditional loan application processes may be more common in larger businesses. More than half of big institutional lenders (those with 200 or more employees) said that fewer than half of their loan applications were submitted online.

Borrowers offered online, and mobile options by their lenders employed such technology during the home loans in LA procedure. 

In 2020, 61% of borrowers used an online application, up slightly from 58% in 2018. 

Furthermore, 61% used an internet gateway to electronically sign and notarize documents, up from 56% in 2018.

Conclusion 

New technology is profoundly affecting the mortgage world. By automating various processes and increasing transparency, new technologies make it easier for consumers to get mortgages. In addition, new technologies are also helping to make the mortgage process more efficient and streamlined. As a result, we’ll likely see even more changes in the mortgage world in the years to come.

Century City Mortgage can assist you if you need specialized lending alternatives. We have you covered for anything from house loans to church finance. Chat with us today and apply for a home mortgage in Los Angeles