National Mortgage News, July 26, 2018–Hannah Long (subscription)The next director of the FHFA is still a mystery, but whoever succeeds current Director Mel Watt once his term ends in January will have a front-and-center role in efforts to reform the government-sponsored enterprises.
Category: Top National News
Wells Fargo Explores Sale of Real-Estate Broker Eastdil
Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2018–Craig Karmin, Dana Mattioli, Emily Glazer (subscription)The San Francisco bank has been sounding out private-equity firms to drum up interest in the real-estate brokerage and investment bank, sources said. Wells Fargo bought Eastdil in 1999 for an undisclosed sum in an effort to bolster its commercial real-estate-lending business.
Ocwen Reports ‘Higher-than-Hoped’ $30 Million Loss
HousingWire, July 26, 2018–Kelsey RamirezOcwen Financial continues to lose money, posting yet another loss, however the company pointed out that the losses continue to grow smaller, though this one was still larger-than-expected by some.
Radian’s Earnings, Delinquency & New Biz Improve
Mortgage Daily, July 26, 2018Radian Group Inc. swung to a big profit from a quarterly loss a year previous. New policies written increased, the book of business expanded and delinquency decreased.
Black, Hispanic Homeownership Rates Fall in Second Quarter
HousingWire, July 26, 2018–Kelsey RamirezThe homeownership rate inched up slightly in the second quarter, but not for all racial and ethnic groups.
International Buyers Are Dropping Out of US Housing Market
CNBC, July 26, 2018–Diana OlickAfter strong interest for several years, international buyers appear to be souring on the U.S. housing market. The dollar volume of U.S. home sales to international buyers between April 2017 and March 2018 dropped 21 percent compared to the year-ago period.
Weekly Mortgage Applications Fall Again as Affordability Problems Persist
CNBC, July 25, 2018–Diana OlickMortgage demand from homebuyers has been falling for weeks and continued its slide yet again. That caused a 0.2 percent drop in mortgage application volume last week from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Fannie-Freddie a Top Focus if Democrats Win House, Waters Says
Bloomberg, July 25, 2018–Elizabeth DexheimerRep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would top her list of priorities if Democrats take control of the House in this year’s mid-term elections and she becomes leader of the Financial Services Committee next year.
Advocacy Group Sues CFPB, OMB for Kraninger’s Records
American Banker, July 25, 2018–Kate Berry (subscription)Allied Progress, a nonprofit advocacy group, said in a lawsuit that it is seeking to compel the agencies to respond to a June Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents on Kathleen Kraninger’s record in government.
HomeStreet Mortgage Losses Widen as Staff Cut
Mortgage Daily, July 25, 2018HomeStreet Inc. reduced the size of its residential servicing portfolio, and cut the size of its mortgage staff, but mortgage losses still widened.