Bankrate.com, June 4, 2020–Jeff OstrowskiIf Treasury rates stay low and lenders work through their backlog of refinance applications, mortgage rates could indeed plummet below 3 percent, says MBA Chief Economist …
Category: Top National News
The Next Big Problem For The Economy: Businesses Can’t Pay Their Rent
Washington Post, June 4, 2020–Heather Long Nearly half of commercial retail rents were not paid in May. Companies as big as Starbucks say the financial devastation from the shutdown has …
Mortgage Rates Drifted Higher on Optimistic Economic News
Washington Post, June 4, 2020–Kathy OrtonEncouraging economic news pushed mortgage rates higher this week. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average ticked up …
Digitizing the Mortgage Industry through MISMO
HousingWire, June 3, 2020–Robert Broeksmit, CMBMBA President and CEO discusses recent MISMO developments.https://www.housingwire.com/articles/pulse-digitizing-the-mortgage-industry-through-mismo/
Government Backstop Grows to 98% of New Financing in Residential Mortgage-Bond Market During Pandemic
MarketWatch, June 3, 2020–Joy WiltermuthThe U.S. government has guaranteed nearly all new home loans in the $11 trillion housing debt market in the months since the coronavirus tool hold across …
Mortgage Investors May Get Relief from Surging Home Refinancings
Bloomberg, June 3, 2020–Christopher MaloneyAggregate prepayment speeds are expected to show a decline in the next report, and that would be good news for mortgage investors.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-03/mortgage-investors-may-get-relief-from-surging-home-refinancings
There’s Only So Much You Can Automate Forbearance Requests: GSEs
National Mortgage News, June 3, 2020–Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)“What we’re hearing from our servicers is roughly 50%-60% of all new forbearance plans were launched through self-serve digital portals,” said Kevin Palmer, …
Next Wave of U.S. Job Cuts Targets Millions of Higher-Paid Workers
Bloomberg, June 3, 2020–Katia Dmitrieva, Reade Pickert, Alex Tanzi, Cedric SamClose to 6 million jobs are potentially on the line. That includes higher-paid supervisors in sectors where frontline workers were …
Fitch Weighs the Potential Fallout of GSEs Exiting Conservatorship
National Mortgage News, June 3, 2020–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)Fitch also predicts that the coronavirus pandemic will delay the GSEs’ release from government control.https://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/news/fitch-weighs-the-potential-fallout-of-gses-exiting-conservatorship
Unemployment Fraud Spreads Across U.S. as Coronavirus Boosts Claims
Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2020–Sarah Chaney (subscription)States across the country are being hit by unemployment-benefit fraud that could amount to billions of lost dollars, reflecting the vulnerabilities that workers …