Category: Top National News

Bloomberg, Sept. 7, 2018–Prashant GopalRenters are gaining the upper hand in urban centers across the U.S. as new amenity-rich apartment buildings constructed in response to big rent gains in previous years are forced to fight for customers.

Washington Post, Sept. 6, 2018–Kathy OrtonMortgage rates have started creeping back up again, Freddie Mac reported. Meanwhile, mortgage applications remained flat. “Mortgage application volume barely moved as an increase in seasonally-adjusted purchase applications nearly offset a decrease in refinances,” said MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB.

CNBC, Sept. 6, 2018–Diana OlickWhile most agree the status quo can’t remain the status quo forever, no one wants to see a shock to the mortgage system and a reversal of this decade of repair. (MBA mention)

Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6, 2018–Christina Rexrode, AnnaMaria Andriotis (subscription)Freedom Mortgage is nowhere near the size of behemoths like Citigroup Inc. or Bank of America Corp.; yet last year it originated more mortgages than either of them, some $51.1 billion, according to industry research group Inside Mortgage Finance.

National Mortgage Professional, Sept. 5, 2018–Phil HallA coalition of housing, mortgage financial services trade organizations issued a public letter to the Trump Administration and congressional leaders asking that reform efforts involving the government-sponsored enterprises be given a new degree of priority.

Bloomberg, Sept. 6, 2018–Elizabeth DexheimerHouse Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, unveiled a proposal Thursday that would effectively shutter Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their roles would be replaced by enabling private companies and Ginnie Mae to backstop the trillions of dollars of mortgage-securities that underpin the U.S. housing market. 

American Banker, Sept. 6, 2018–Penny Crossman (subscription)The fintech sector poses a growing risk to the financial system because it lacks the regulatory restraints put on banks, according to a new paper released Thursday by Federal Financial Analytics.

Marketplace, Sept. 6, 2018–Amy Scott”The system is in much better shape than it was before,” outgoing Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton said. “All financial institutions have much stronger backing behind them, much higher capital ratios.”

The Hill, Sept. 6, 2018–Christie Peel, Susan M. IfillThe authors, affordable housing advocates in New York, say while proposed Treasury reforms aimed at modernizing and expanding access to mortgage lending services are laudable, in reality, many of the proposed reforms will put homeowners at risk, and disturbingly, they echo the mindset that led our country into a foreclosure crisis 10 years ago.

Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6, 2018–Cezary Podkul (subscription)When Lewis Ranieri invented mortgage bonds, he never thought it would turn out this way. The father of mortgage-backed securities lives with remorse for his role in the housing crisis.