More than 12 years after the federal government placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under conservatorship—and seemingly no closer to moving them out of conservatorship—the Mortgage Bankers Association and several industry trade groups urged the Treasury Department to promote “critical reforms” of the GSEs and bolster their safety and soundness.
Category: News and Trends
MBA: November New Home Purchase Mortgage Applications Fall by 16% Monthly; Up Nearly 35% from Year Ago
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey data for November show mortgage applications for new home purchases fell by 16 percent from October but jumped by 34.7 percent from a year ago.
Foreign Investment in U.S. Net-Lease Properties Increases Despite Travel Restrictions
CBRE, Los Angeles, said U.S. net-lease property investment rebounded during the third quarter, driven by strong interest in office assets and increasing foreign investment.
MBA: Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Drops Back to 5.48%
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey reported loans now in forbearance decreased to 5.48% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of December 6 from 5.54% the prior week. MBA estimates 2.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
MBA: 3Q Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Up 1.5%
Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose by $57.0 billion (1.5 percent) in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.
FHA Technology Initiatives Begin Bearing Fruit
A partnership between the HUD’ Office of the Chief Information Officer and HUD’s Federal Housing Commissioner, FHA Catalyst is a secure, flexible, cloud-based platform that provides a modern, automated system for lenders, servicers and other FHA program participants.
Dealmaker: Blackstone Real Estate To Acquire $3.4B Lab Office Portfolio
Blackstone Property Partners Life Sciences, New York, agreed to acquire a 2.3 million square foot portfolio of lab office buildings from a Brookfield Asset Management real estate fund for $3.45 billion.
Industry Briefs Dec. 15, 2020
LERETA, Pomona, Calif., a provider of national real estate tax and flood services, acquired the Flood Determinations Solution from Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance, Minneapolis, for an undisclosed sum.
The Redesigned URLA Is Coming Jan. 1. Are You Ready?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) will ring in the New Year by starting to accept the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) and updated automated underwriting system (AUS) loan application submission files based on MISMO v3.4.
MBA Advocacy Update–Dec. 15, 2020
The CFPB released its much-anticipated final QM rules replacing the so-called GSE Patch and providing QM status for “certain” seasoned loans. Both final rules reflected important provisions advocated by MBA throughout the comment process.