With congressional majorities now settled and the Biden-Harris Inauguration Day looming, on Thursday the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency released an amendment to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements governing the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Importantly, the revisions do not call for the premature release of the GSEs from conservatorship, heeding the concerns MBA had raised in recent weeks about potential market disruptions from a rushed exit.

President-Elect Joe Biden on Monday nominated Rohit Chopra, who worked closely with Elizabeth Warren in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the wake of the Great Recession, to serve as the Bureau’s next Director.

Janet Yellen, President-Elect Joseph Biden Jr.’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, appears this morning for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Ahead of the hearing, the Mortgage Bankers Association sent a letter in support of her nomination.

Cushman & Wakefield, Chicago, reported the recession that began in March is still being felt in the U.S. office market.

This week’s MBA Chart of the Week uses AHS data to show the distribution of total monthly housing costs as a percentage of income. T

One of the many shifts occurring in the commercial real estate marketplace are evolving dynamics for insurance coverages and costs which help mitigate landlord and lender risks. These shifts impact existing borrowers and loans as well as new originations and all the different parties involved in the CRE finance ecosystem.