A total of 66% of the US has a rent-versus-own imbalance where rents are higher than the cost to own. If you look at all those factors, that's why the market is quickly trying to build homes. The interest rate is moving up, but it's not having a dramatic impact on the purchase market. Last year was a good purchase year and a moderate refinance year. For people who refinance, it's about rate, and for people who purchase, it's about life choices. You buy a home because you need a home, and you're building a family and wealth. As long as employment stays steady and home builders are trying to build affordable product—and they're working on that; it's a challenge politically also because of land availability. We're seeing new construction spike and new home purchases increase.

GlobeSt.com: How have your company's underwriting standards changed over the last few years, and how do you expect them to continue to change?

Hanson: Our company is like most large mortgage-banking companies that sell through government conduits, but most of the underwriting we deliver utilizes underwriting guidelines from Freddie, Fannie and DUI, which makes it sellable. There's been an even keel among lenders across the country, which is a good guide for underwriting loans. You can have a non-qualified mortgage with greater risk, but most lenders have stayed away from that, so we're all pretty much selling by the same product guidelines.

In personal loans, we're looking to develop a more sophisticated underwriting engine because of the digital age and the tremendous amounts of information available for borrowers to be able to quality for home loans that they will be able to repay. This information wasn't available in the past.

GlobeSt.com: What trends are you noticing in the refinancing sector of the home-loan industry?

Hanson: We're seeing a little bit more of the cash-out advance as people find equity in their properties. The availability of HELOCs was mitigated over the last few years. Refinancing will be a big part of the finance business. A lot of people don't think to refinance because rates are going up, but many people can save $100 to $200 a month by staying within the product they're in. Refinancing gets a bad rap when rates go up; the misconception is that the faucet turns off and all ears are closed, but the borrower should inquire. Borrowers should ask their lender to give them a little property checkup, where do they see them in their equity and what are their options? Nine times out of 10, they will find they'll get a good education, and it will also help them to understand which questions to ask the next time. I encourage every single person with a mortgage to go to a professional and inquire what their options are. Rising rates shouldn't discourage people from inquiring.

GlobeSt.com: What should our readers know about your retail production team?

Hanson: We have one of the largest retail production teams in the country, with a little more than 1,000 loan officers in 46 states. A lot of people like to go on the Internet and search for mortgages, but others want to talk to somebody face to face; we give them the option of both. They can either talk to somebody on the phone or go to a local branch that understands the neighborhood. I think it's comforting. I could do my own taxes on TurboTax but I like talking to my CPA so my return is the most accurate it can be. With a first mortgage, it's important to get a face-to-face meeting with someone in the community. Not a lot of companies offer both, but we do. We did $38 billion last year—it was the biggest year we ever had—and we believe 2017 will be a much more robust year for our enterprise. We are planning and gearing up financially and technologically to have robust housing in 2017. It's about demand. We're in a much smarter regulatory and lending environment than before; we don't want to end up in the same crisis as before.

FOOTHILL RANCH, CA—Even with interest rates rising, anyone with a home mortgage should check with their lender to find out what their options are for a better rate, loanDepot's chief retail production officer Dan Hanson tells GlobeSt.com. With the interest-rate climate changing, we spoke with Hanson—who is responsible for developing the firm's future enterprise growth strategy and the platform for its retail-sales production team while leading the sales organization through further expansion and an increased scope of origination opportunities nationwide—about its effects on the home-loan industry and underwriting standards now and into the future.

GlobeSt.com: How do you see the home-loan industry changing as stock tightens, prices rise and interest rates creep up?

Hanson: The reality is that rates are moving up slowly. We're probably back to the same rates as December 2013 on a 30-year fixed mortgage at about 4.25%, which is still a fantastic interest rate. The rates moving up has a beneficial effect in one way: there are more alternatives to give us a market for product development. When rates are low, there's no interest from the private sector in mortgage alternatives. It's great that we have Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA, but as rates move up, there is more interest from the private sector for mortgage lending, which may provide motivation for more products than what we currently have.

We predict 2017 to be a phenomenal year for purchase loans and new-home construction because Millennials are finally getting into the market. There's a tremendous number of those folks looking to own homes. Since the crisis, we went a long period of time with no new construction, so we have more people than homes for them. Tight inventory means properties on the market tend to appreciate more quickly than in an ample inventory situation. Rising interest rates tend to slow that down. We don't want to price people out of the market, and small bubbles will form that are not healthy. But healthy markets have fairly steady interest rates, unemployment under 5% and a huge demand from the Millennial population to own homes.

A total of 66% of the US has a rent-versus-own imbalance where rents are higher than the cost to own. If you look at all those factors, that's why the market is quickly trying to build homes. The interest rate is moving up, but it's not having a dramatic impact on the purchase market. Last year was a good purchase year and a moderate refinance year. For people who refinance, it's about rate, and for people who purchase, it's about life choices. You buy a home because you need a home, and you're building a family and wealth. As long as employment stays steady and home builders are trying to build affordable product—and they're working on that; it's a challenge politically also because of land availability. We're seeing new construction spike and new home purchases increase.

GlobeSt.com: How have your company's underwriting standards changed over the last few years, and how do you expect them to continue to change?

Hanson: Our company is like most large mortgage-banking companies that sell through government conduits, but most of the underwriting we deliver utilizes underwriting guidelines from Freddie, Fannie and DUI, which makes it sellable. There's been an even keel among lenders across the country, which is a good guide for underwriting loans. You can have a non-qualified mortgage with greater risk, but most lenders have stayed away from that, so we're all pretty much selling by the same product guidelines.

In personal loans, we're looking to develop a more sophisticated underwriting engine because of the digital age and the tremendous amounts of information available for borrowers to be able to quality for home loans that they will be able to repay. This information wasn't available in the past.

GlobeSt.com: What trends are you noticing in the refinancing sector of the home-loan industry?

Hanson: We're seeing a little bit more of the cash-out advance as people find equity in their properties. The availability of HELOCs was mitigated over the last few years. Refinancing will be a big part of the finance business. A lot of people don't think to refinance because rates are going up, but many people can save $100 to $200 a month by staying within the product they're in. Refinancing gets a bad rap when rates go up; the misconception is that the faucet turns off and all ears are closed, but the borrower should inquire. Borrowers should ask their lender to give them a little property checkup, where do they see them in their equity and what are their options? Nine times out of 10, they will find they'll get a good education, and it will also help them to understand which questions to ask the next time. I encourage every single person with a mortgage to go to a professional and inquire what their options are. Rising rates shouldn't discourage people from inquiring.

GlobeSt.com: What should our readers know about your retail production team?

Hanson: We have one of the largest retail production teams in the country, with a little more than 1,000 loan officers in 46 states. A lot of people like to go on the Internet and search for mortgages, but others want to talk to somebody face to face; we give them the option of both. They can either talk to somebody on the phone or go to a local branch that understands the neighborhood. I think it's comforting. I could do my own taxes on TurboTax but I like talking to my CPA so my return is the most accurate it can be. With a first mortgage, it's important to get a face-to-face meeting with someone in the community. Not a lot of companies offer both, but we do. We did $38 billion last year—it was the biggest year we ever had—and we believe 2017 will be a much more robust year for our enterprise. We are planning and gearing up financially and technologically to have robust housing in 2017. It's about demand. We're in a much smarter regulatory and lending environment than before; we don't want to end up in the same crisis as before.