LAS VEGAS — The credit union share of mortgage lending in the U.S. hit 5.2% as of June 30, which one industry insider said can be viewed as both good news and bad news.
For years credit union mortgage share has scuffled along at 2% to 3%, much to the dismay of Bob Dorsa, president of the American Credit Union Mortgage Association and an advocate for increased CU participation in the mortgage lending market. During ACUMA's recent Annual Conference here, Dorsa told Credit Union Journal the 5.2% figure is to be welcomed as an improvement, but, "The bad news is, refi's are going to tail off, and as interest rates rise, it will make things more difficult. Instead of resting on our laurels, we need to keep pushing."
Dorsa wants to see credit unions push their share of the market to 10%, stressing it will take hard work to capture the "95% of members who have their mortgage elsewhere."
To increase market share, Dorsa said CUs must embrace the slogan "Real Estate is Local" and get involved with Realtors in their areas.
"Realtors lost a lot of their lenders in the last year, and credit unions are still open, still lending," he observed. "We have to tell our story, because a lot of people still don't know what credit unions are. We can't sit in our offices talking about travel restrictions; we need to get out and meet the people. There is a difference between a junket and a conference that brings meaningful results. If credit unions look at conferences and meetings as value propositions, and actually implement the ideas they hear, then things will improve."
To help with the push to tell the CU story, Dorsa said he and others from ACUMA are in the process of working with state leagues and state Realtor groups.
One stop on Dorsa's tour will be the National Association of Realtors' 2009 Conference in San Diego in November where the goal is to raise awareness of credit unions as mortgage lenders.
"All these foreclosures have to be sold to somebody, hopefully young people, and someone has to make those loans, so the opportunity is there-we couldn't draw up a better opportunity," he emphasized. "We are coming out of the recession and people are ready to buy, and that's where the credit union should be. Laying off staff is not a good way to build a credit union. We can't wait for members who have been around for 20 or 30 years to continue to support the credit union. They might be wooed away by someone else who asks them for their business."
What Dorsa would like to see is a national marketing effort that leverages the trust consumers have in credit unions. He pointed to brands such as Geico and Aflac, which have made themselves "bigger than life" thanks to relentless advertising.
"We need national penetration and emphasis," he said. "CUNA should rethink if it is worth lobbying for some congressman to get elected. Maybe a national campaign would be a better use of that money. Credit unions didn't cheat anybody, we didn't do stupid stuff, so what better way to help rebuild the country than through housing. That's better than credit cards or car loans."
