The Lede
Top National News
Pam Patenaude Named Deputy HUD Secretary
National Mortgage Professional, Apr. 28, 2017--Phil HallPatenaude is president of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for America's Families. The Mortgage Bankers Association issued a statement in support.
Full Story
12 Cities Still Grappling with High Foreclosures
National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)National foreclosure activity is at an 11-year low. There were more than 83,000 foreclosure filings nationwide in March, down 77% from a record 367,000 in September 2010. But some cities have yet to fully recover.
Full Story
Wells’ Borrowing Boost Sparks Concentration Fears for Home Loan Banks
National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017--Brian Collins (subscription)Wells Fargo Bank has dramatically increased its borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, more than doubling the San Francisco institution's level of advances and accounting for the majority share of borrowings at the government-sponsored enterprise.
Full Story
Parents: Tired of Being Landlords? Buy Your Kids a House
UExpress, Apr. 28, 2017--Lew SichelmanParents who would like to see their adult children leave the nest are increasingly buying their offspring their own places.
Full Story
Ellie Mae Revenue Jumps 25% in First Quarter 2017
HousingWire, Apr. 28, 2017--Brena SwansonEllie Mae powered through industry declines in mortgage volumes and recorded a strong boost in revenue for the first quarter.
Full Story
New Yorkers Flock to Booming Sun Belt as Trek South Resumes
Bloomberg, Apr. 28, 2017--Steve MatthewsNearly 600,000 Americans moved from the Midwest and Northeast to the Sun Belt states last year, the most since 2005, according to the Brookings Institution.
Full Story
Laws to Fast-Track Vacant Home Foreclosures Slowly Gaining Traction
National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Years after the worst of the housing crisis, states still dealing with high foreclosure activity are weighing laws to speed the process on vacant or abandoned properties.
Full Story
U.S. First-Quarter Growth Weakest in Three Years as Consumer Spending Falters
Reuters, Apr. 28, 2017--Lucia MutikaniGross domestic product increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate also as the government cut back on defense spending, the Commerce Department said on Friday. That was the weakest performance since the first quarter of 2014.
Full Story
Alas, the Mortgage Interest Deduction Cannot be Pried Away
Washington Post Writers Group, Apr. 30, 2017--George WillThe deductibility of mortgage interest payments, by which the government will forgo collecting nearly $1 trillion in the next decade, is treated as a categorical imperative graven on the heart of humanity by the finger of God because it is a pleasure enjoyed primarily by the wealthy.
Full Story
Property Insurers Hit By Worst First Quarter in 20 Years
Wall Street Journal, Apr. 30, 2017--Leslie Scism (subscription)Hail, tornadoes and an ice storm turned the first three months of 2017 into the most expensive first quarter in more than 20 years for U.S. insurers.
Full Story
Why Servicing Still Hasn’t Recovered from the Foreclosure Crisis
National Mortgage News, Apr. 28, 2017--Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Foreclosure activity continues to subside and most of the regulatory reforms created to protect distressed borrowers have been implemented. Yet mortgage servicers still haven't fully resolved the operational challenges facing their business.
Full Story
MBA Secondary panel: Yes, GSE Reform Can Really Work This Time Around
HousingWire, Apr. 30, 2017--Sarah WheelerThe economic and political stars have aligned to make GSE reform a real possibility, and the Mortgage Bankers Association is not letting the opportunity go to waste.
Full Story
Residential Finance News
Commercial/Multifamily News
MBA News
MBA Education Appraisal Webinar Series Kicks Off Today
MBA Education and the Appraisal Institute present the first in a four-part webinar series on Appraisals today, May 1.
Full Story