Bloomberg, Sept. 11, 2017–Gavin FinchLondon retained its crown as the world’s top financial center in a ranking that surveys industry professionals, extending its lead over New York and Hong Kong despite ongoing uncertainty about the implications of Brexit.
Category: Top National News
Demand for Student Housing Shows Signs of Slowing Down
National Real Estate Investor, Sept. 11, 2017–Bendix Anderson This summer–for the first time in several years–student housings beds were not leasing as quickly as the year before.
Chief Executive of Social Finance, an Online Lending Start-Up, to Step Down
New York Times, Sept. 11, 2017–Katie Benner, Nathaniel PopperSocial Finance, an online lender that is one of the more prominent financial technology start-ups, said on Monday that its co-founder and chief executive Mike Cagney planned to step down by the end of the year.
Home Purchase Lending Up Despite Decline in Units
Mortgage Daily, Sept. 11, 2017Although the dollar volume of quarterly purchase-money production has recently risen, the number of loans closed has fallen thanks to the lack of junior-lien use.
Womens’ Conference Among Dozens of Mortgage Events
Mortgage Daily, Sept. 11, 2017–Sam GarciaAmong dozens of upcoming events is an inaugural technology conference for women in the mortgage industry.
Florida Bankers Exhale After Irma Strikes
American Banker, Sept. 11, 2017–Jackie Stewart (free article)The Mortgage Bankers Association said it had received a lot of questions from homeowners who didn’t know how to start assessing damage from Harvey and Irma. The group encouraged customers to contact their loan servicers to find out about programs that could help them, along with their insurers and FEMA.
U.S. Sues Ex-Deutsche Bank Head of Subprime Mortgage Trading
Financial times, Sept. 11, 2017–Jessica Dye (subscription)A decade after the financial crisis, the US has filed a civil lawsuit accusing the former head of subprime trading at Deutsche Bank of misleading investors about the characteristics of loans backing more than $1bn worth of securitisations that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in investor losses.
Ohio Mortgage Assistance Company Ordered to Pay $7.9 Mln Penalty
Reuters, Sept. 11, 2017–Dena AubinAn Ohio company accused of promising false savings on mortgage payments must pay a $7.9 million civil penalty to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal judge ruled, though he rejected the bureau’s request for $74 million in restitution.
Why Pricing Terrorism Risk Remains a Challenge for CRE Insurers
National Mortgage News, Sept. 11, 2017–Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act was created after 9/11 to serve as a crucial federal backstop for commercial real estate insurers, but an analysis of alternatives to fund the program reveals the continued challenges of measuring and predicting terror risk.
Bob Knakal on What Tax Reform Could Mean for CRE
The Real Deal, Sept. 8, 2017–Rich BockmannTax reform could be a boon to the commercial real estate market, but it could also prove to be quite costly, Cushman & Wakefield’s Bob Knakal said.