Steadily rising mortgage interest rates reached a nine-month high last week, putting the buzzkill on refinance activity, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 19.
Category: News and Trends
MBA, Trade Groups Urge Support of Housing Supply & Affordability Act
The Mortgage Bankers Association and a broad coalition of more than 100 national and regional trade associations and community support groups urged Congress to pass S. 5061, the Housing Supply and Affordability Act, a bipartisan bill that would authorize $1.5 billion over five years for federal grants to local governments that commit to increase their supply of local housing.
JLL: Real Estate Going Electric
Commercial real estate releases carbon emissions from natural gas boilers, diesel back-up generators and other sources, but JLL, Chicago, said efforts are growing to power buildings entirely by electricity.
Kosta Ligris: Fintech Partnerships Can Empower Community Banks, Credit Unions to Thrive
Community banks need to focus on partnerships with fintechs to deliver exceptional experiences and solve some of their most fragmented challenges. Fragmentation is expensive and riddled with risk and inefficiencies—and the lending and banking industries are full of fragmentation.
New Home Sales Take a February Hit
Historically, February has never been a big month for home sales—it’s cold, the weather is unpredictable and it’s, well, February. But during the hottest—and strangest—housing winter in memory, could this February also defy logic.
Dealmaker: Blackstone Real Estate Acquires Miami Office Property for $230M
Blackstone Real Estate, New York, acquired 2 & 3 MiamiCentral from Shorenstein Properties, New York, for $230 million.
MBA: IMB Production Profits Remain Strong in Fourth Quarter
Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $3,738 on each loan they originated in the fourth quarter down from a reported gain of $5,535 per loan in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report.
MBA: Share of Loans in Forbearance Falls to 5.05%
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey reported loans now in forbearance fell by 9 percent to 5.05% of mortgage servicers’ portfolio volume as of March 14 from 5.14% the week earlier–the lowest level in nearly a year. MBA estimates 2.5 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
MBA Opens Doors Foundation Announces Alliance with The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis
The MBA Opens Doors Foundation announced a new alliance with The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis in Tulsa, Okla. The alliance is the Foundation’s first in Oklahoma and brings the number of children’s hospitals in its network to 13.
Quote
“We write with strong support of the Housing Supply and Affordability Act and urge its swift passage in Congress. The legislation is an innovative and bipartisan approach to addressing one of the most critical issues of our time: housing affordability.”
–From an MBA/coalition letter to Congress in support of the Housing Supply and Affordability Act.