After improving—relatively speaking—through most of the spring, initial claims backslid for the second consecutive week, the Labor Department reported yesterday.
Category: News and Trends
2nd Quarter GDP Takes One to the Chin
We were warned that second quarter gross domestic product data was going to be bad. Even so, the numbers that came out yesterday were off the charts–literally.
MBA, Trade Groups Ask Congress to Extend Troubled Debt Restructurings Relief Period
The Mortgage Bankers Association and a half-dozen other industry trade groups this week asked Congress to extend the “covered period” under the Troubled Debt Restructurings relief under section 4013 of the CARES Act.
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“In recent weeks, housing demand has rebounded sharply, and we expect the rest of the economy to recover in the second half of the year. However, the adverse impacts to the job market and hardships for many households may persist – especially if virus cases continue to rise in several parts of the country. There are still many workers who have not returned to work, households in need of mortgage or rent forbearance and an overall sense of uncertainty ahead.”
–Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting with the Mortgage Bankers Association, on yesterday’s gross domestic product report.
Dealmaker: Gantry Arranges $29M for Arizona Industrial Assets
Gantry, San Francisco, arranged $28.9 million in financing for two Class A Arizona industrial buildings.
Christopher Bennett: 2020’s Unprecedented Growth Requires Counterintuitive Thinking
As COVID-19 continues to affect the mortgage industry, lenders are realizing that conducting business as usual may not be possible or plausible. For a lender’s growth to reach new and different heights in 2020, new and different business practices, such as working with a hedge advisory firm, are required.
Momentum Builds as 2nd FHLB Accepts eNotes
Earlier this month, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines became the first of the 11-member FHLB system to announce it would accept residential mortgage electronic promissory notes—eNotes—as collateral. Now, a second FHLB has jumped on the eNotes bandwagon.
MBA Education Path to Diversity Scholar Profile: Christa Thomas
(One of a continuing series of profiles of participants in the MBA Education Path to Diversity (P2D) Scholarship Program, which enables employees from diverse backgrounds to advance their professional growth and career development.)
MBA: 2019 Multifamily Lending Up 7% to Record High
Fueled by strong market fundamentals and low interest rates, 2,589 different multifamily lenders provided $364.4 billion in new mortgages in 2019 for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual multifamily lending market report.
Kelly Hebert: Avoid the Chaos, Communicate Clearly
Communication is the backbone of our business and personal lives. And if we can understand the power of positive communication a little better, and work to harness the power that communication can provide, we can all be a little more productive, more informed and more successful in achieving our goals.