The Lede

Washington Post, Sept. 5, 2019--Kathy OrtonAfter holding steady for a month, mortgage rates plunged to their lowest levels in nearly three years this week. (MBA mention)

Orange County Register, Sept. 5, 2019--Jeff LazersonThe Mortgage Bankers Association relased a study this week showing a dramatic drop in recent home equity activity compared to before the Great Recession.

Wall Street Journal, Sept. 5, 2019--Nick Timiraos (subscription)Uncertainty over trade policy is likely to reduce U.S. economic output by more than 1% through early 2020, new research from Federal Reserve economists suggests.

National Mortgage News, Sept. 5, 2019--Brad Finkelstein (subscription)Homeownership creates happiness for Americans through an emotional attachment to their property as well as an improved lifestyle, a survey from Bank of America found.

Bloomberg, Sept. 5, 2019--Christian BerthelsenPaul Manafort, the disgraced former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, is seeking dismissal of a mortgage-fraud case against him in New York because he was already tried on similar charges in federal court.

American Banker, Sept. 5, 2019--Brendan Pedersen (subscription)The nation's 5,303 FDIC-insured institutions earned net income of $62.6 billion, an increase of 4.1% from the same time in 2018 and another record $139 billion. The FDIC also attributed higher profits to growth in realized securities gains.

National Mortgage News, Sept. 5, 2019--Hannah Lang (free article)The Treasury Department made clear in a much-anticipated report that its ultimate preference is for Congress to take up reform of the government-sponsored enterprises. That legislation would include an explicit government guarantee, and a new Ginnie-provided backstop for guarantors competing on par with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Forbes, Sept. 5, 2019--Blake JanoverAlthough apartment loans are available for many, due to lack of product education, there simply isn't enough adoption in secondary and tertiary markets as folks continue to rely on local banking relationships as their primary source of senior debt for multifamily financing.