Why High-Flying U.S. Home Prices Are About to Get Another Jolt

Bloomberg, Apr. 25, 2018–Vince GolleThe U.S. housing market’s storyline for the last several years has been one of steady demand and limited supply, pushing prices ever higher. Now, a new chapter has opened up for the industry and its customers: soaring costs for building materials.

U.S. Consumers More Confident in Economy

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 24, 2018–Josh Mitchell (subscription)The Conference Board said Tuesday its index of consumer confidence rose 1.7 points from a month earlier to 128.7 in April. Confidence had dipped in March after hitting the highest level since 2000 in February.

Tax Changes Mean Mortgage-Interest Deduction Finds Fewer Takers

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 23, 2018–Richard Rubin (subscription)Meet the new mortgage-interest deduction. It’s smaller and much more concentrated among high-income households. In 2018, the deduction will save taxpayers $25 billion, down from $60 billion in 2017, according to estimates released on Monday by the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Fox News Host Defends HUD Multifamily Loans

Los Angeles Times, Apr. 23, 2018–Stephen BattaglioFox News host Sean Hannity said he had no direct discussions with HUD regarding loans for his real estate holdings revealed in a Sunday report by the Guardian.

HomeStreet Lays Off Dozens of Mortgage Employees

Mortgage Daily, Apr. 23, 2018Quarterly home lending tumbled at HomeStreet Inc. Mortgage losses piled up, hurting company-wide profits. Dozens of mortgage jobs were eliminated during the most-recent quarter.

Mulvaney Response to CFPB Data Security Gaps Baffles Cyber Experts

American Banker, Apr. 23, 2018–Kate Berry (subscription)Acting Director Mick Mulvaney has said hundreds of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-related data breaches justified his announcement in December that the agency would halt collecting personally identifiable information from companies it supervises. But industry experts say such a data freeze is unusual in the government; more unusual, they say, is that the CFPB apparently resumed data collection after only a few weeks, without investigating or remedying the cybersecurity problems that it identified.

Bill Would Force CFPB to Provide Better Guidance

Scotsman Guide, Apr. 23, 2018–Victor WhitmanThe bill would require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director to issue legally binding guidance. The Mortgage Bankers Association and other industry groups have long complained that the bureau has left companies to interpret civil judgments and consent orders when companies are punished for wrongdoing, and that the bureau only has published informal advice in select cases.

Mike Fratantoni Talks About Housing Trends

CNBC, Apr. 24, 2018MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni discusses rising interest rates, demographic trends, and various pressures on the housing marktet.