"Conditions have changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest being increased uncertainty. Interest rates are now lower than they were a year ago, and data have yet to show any marked changes in property incomes or values. Demand for refinancing because of low rates, particularly for government-backed loans, is unlikely to overcome a drop in sales transactions, which means multifamily borrowing and lending is likely to drop this year.” --MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

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.