New home sales improved in February, HUD and the Census Bureau reported Thursday, the third straight monthly increase, but only because of downward revisions to previous months.
Category: News and Trends
Dealmaker: George Smith Partners Arranges $30M
George Smith Partners, Los Angeles, secured $29.6 million for properties in North Carolina.
ULI: Zoning for a More Resilient and Sustainable Future
Updating zoning regulations can increase housing attainability, reduce carbon emissions, promote social equity and improve community health, reported the Urban Land Institute, Washington, D.C.
Call for Speakers: MBA Annual Convention & Expo; Deadline June 2
Speaker proposals for breakout sessions are now being accepted for the MBA Annual Convention & Expo 2023, taking place October 15-18 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. This is the industry’s largest convention and expo focused on residential real estate finance.
MBA: February Mortgage Application Payments Up 5%
Homebuyer affordability declined in February, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants increasing 4.9 percent to $2,061 from $1,964 in January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s monthly Purchase Applications Payment Index.
MBA Releases 2022 Rankings of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Firms’ Origination Volumes
The following firms were the top commercial/multifamily mortgage originators in 2022, according to a set of commercial/multifamily real estate finance league tables prepared by the Mortgage Bankers Association:
MBA Home For All Pledge Partner: Class Valuation
(One in a series of profiles of MBA member companies that have signed the MBA Home For All Pledge, an initiative to promote inclusion in housing.)
MBA Education Path to Diversity Scholar Profile: Jessica Dehoux
Jessica Dehoux is a Mortgage Loan Officer for Chesapeake Bank, Kilmarnock, Va. She has completed the MBA Education School of Loan Origination and School of Mortgage Banking I. She started her banking career in 2008; she has been in the mortgage lending industry for six years and in her current position as Loan Officer for 2.5 years.
Elevating Your Quality Quotient: Taking Stock of Mortgage Servicing in Three Acts
A borrower’s first home purchase and introduction to homeownership leaves an imprint. Mortgage origination production is an important component of housing services, but shortly after closing and keys are in-hand, the borrower’s collective time within the home is spent interacting with another mortgage ecosystem partner, their mortgage servicer.
Quote: Mar. 24, 2023
“The trend improvement in new home sales is an encouraging sign that incentive programs meant to lower inventories and bridge the affordability gap for buyers are working. But, higher sales are unlikely to translate to a meaningful improvement in new single-family construction until inventories move lower from their still-elevated levels.”
–Charlie Dougherty, Economist with Wells Fargo Economics, Charlotte, N.C.