4 questions as CFPB closes in on revamp of key mortgage rule
The agency is sending a strong message that it won’t rush to end an exemption for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while also signaling longer-term changes that will affect all lenders.
Housing markets
Opinion GSE investors better beware underlying risks
The FHFA’s attempt to move some of its balance sheet into the private sector could leave investors with greater liabilities than they were initially told.
Tobias Peter
American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center
Low mortgage rates persist as 2019 nears end
Mortgage rates ended the week little changed from the previous seven-day period and near historic lows for the year, according to Freddie Mac.
Borrowers take most cash-out from properties in nearly 12 years
More than half of the third quarter refinance activity was the cash-out variety, with borrowers removing the most total equity from their homes in nearly 12 years, according to Black Knight.
GSE limit for single-family loans to surpass $500K in 2020
Loan limits for most mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy will exceed $500,000 for the first time ever next year, and the maximum for most high-cost areas will be $765,000.
5 nuances worth noting in mortgage and housing forecasts
From product-specific variations in refinancing rates to pockets of depreciation in an otherwise healthy market, here are some details in housing-related data that highlight important underlying trends in the mortgage business.
Fannie Mae raises origination estimates as economic outlook improves
With economic expansion expected to keep churning through at least the first half of next year, Fannie Mae upwardly revised its single-family mortgage origination outlook for 2019 and 2020.
There may be a huge hole in California’s new rooftop solar rule
A proposal by a single utility threatens to upend California’s sweeping mandate requiring solar panels on almost every new home.
Fewer underwater mortgages, as values benefit from extended boom
The share of severely underwater mortgages shrunk by over two percentage points compared with a year ago, as these borrowers benefited from the rise in equity levels, Attom Data Solutions said.
Mortgage originations to top $2T the next two years: Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac is now forecasting back-to-back years of $2 trillion in mortgage loan originations rather than a drop-off in 2020.
Opinion Let’s get housing reform right this time
As lawmakers tackle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, any revamp must lessen risk to the mortgage system and U.S. taxpayers.
Robert Broeksmit
Mortgage Bankers Association
Education needed to boost non-QM lending even with patch’s end
The end of the qualified mortgage patch should further accelerate non-QM origination growth, but is the mortgage industry ready?
QM patch’s end, recession could set black homeownership back further
With the qualified mortgage patch expiring and a recession likely, wealth inequities that have hurt black and millennial homeownership could worsen, according to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers.
New construction home shortage will drag for years: Zillow
Property values recovered, and in some cases even surpassed housing bubble peaks, but the same can't be said for waning new construction activity, which won't return to historic norms for years, according to Zillow.
Lenders’ profit optimism spikes to four-year high: Fannie Mae
A swell of refinance demand amid a low mortgage rate environment pushed lender profit margin outlooks to the highest level since the first quarter of 2015, according to Fannie Mae.
Where consumers carry the most mortgage debt per capita
Mortgage debt climbed to a new peak of $9.4 trillion in the second quarter and the distribution across the U.S. varies greatly.
Refinancing share shoots up following dramatic mortgage rate drop
Refinances jumped in July in response to a considerable mortgage rate decline from the month prior as homeowners set to lock in lower costs, according to Ellie Mae.
Opinion Taxpayers are the GSEs’ true stockholders
Complaints made by legacy shareholders of Freddie Mac have no value after the Treasury Department pumped up Freddie and Fannie Mae through conservatorship.
Edward Pinto
American Enterprise Institute Housing Center
Recession may be looming, but housing market remains solid: Zillow
While talks of an impending recession pick up steam, the housing market remains fairly stalwart and won't be to blame this time around, according to Zillow.
Why the boost lenders get from lower mortgage rates may have limits
Lower rates will likely sustain higher levels of origination through at least the third quarter, but supply constraints and economic weakness could limit the purchase market's response in the long term.
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