Category: Top National News

Forbes, Feb. 16, 2016–Pfau, Wade
Some aspects of reverse mortgages’ bad reputation are based on misunderstandings, some aspects were true in the past but have since been mitigated, and some aspects may still remain.

Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Feb. 16, 2016–Dixon Murray, Teresa
Now that its lawsuit against the government was dismissed, Quicken Loans plans to step up efforts to fight the government, which has accused the the mortgage giant of approving bad loans just to make money.

National Mortgage Professional, Feb. 16, 2016–Hall, Phil
In his first speech as the new president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Neel Kashkari took on a strikingly political edge by complaining about the limits in enforcing the Too Big to Fail aspect of a Dodd-Frank Act. Speaking at the Brookings Institution, Kashkari noted that his regional Fed bank was taking aim at the issue and then challenged Capitol Hill to do the same.

National Mortgage News, Feb. 16, 2016–Passy, Jacob
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) launched the Fair Housing Enforcement Program, aimed at targeting discrimination in rental and home sale transactions.

HousingWire, Feb. 16, 2016–Swanson, Brena
Appraisal volume moved higher for the third consecutive week, increasing 4.2% for the week of Feb. 7, said a la mode, an appraisal forms software company that tracks appraisal volume throughout the country.

Reuters, Feb. 16, 2016–Ramesh, Aaradhana
Growing concerns about weak global growth and inflation are unlikely to deter the U.S. Federal Reserve from tightening policy, according to a Reuters poll that suggested two interest rate hikes are likely this year.

Wall Street Journal, Feb 16, 2016–Ng, Serena
The financial engine of the market for office buildings, hotels and malls is showing signs of strain, raising questions about the resilience of the commercial real estate boom.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 16, 2016–Karmin, Craig
Investors are shrugging off the lodging industry’s best fundamentals in years to dump hotel stocks, a move that could signal a broader downturn for the commercial real estate sector.

National Real Estate Investor, Feb. 16, 2016–Anderson, Bendix
Multifamily rents are likely to keep rising in 2016, just not as fast as before, according to forecasts for the coming year.

Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, Feb. 16, 2016
Canadians looking to buy homes between $500,000 and $1 million will have to put down larger down payments as new federal rules took effect Monday.