Top National News Dec. 20, 2022

Here’s a summary of Top National News Items from major news sites and industry trade publications. To get started, click on the headline above:

Institutions May Deploy Dry Powder for Real Estate Heading into 2023
Wealth Management Real Estate, Dec. 19, 2022–Beth Mattson-Teig
It sounds counterintuitive to the slowdown in new investment activity seen in recent months, but a new industry survey shows that institutions are continuing to raise their target allocations to commercial real estate.
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/investment-strategies/institutions-may-deploy-dry-powder-real-estate-heading-2023?

Credit Unions Gain Share of Commercial Real Estate Loans
Credit Union Times, Dec. 19, 2022–Jim DuPlessis
A report released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed all institutions held $4.45 trillion in commercial real estate on Sept. 30, up 1.6% from June 30 and up 7.1% from Dec. 31.
https://www.cutimes.com/2022/12/19/credit-unions-gain-share-of-commercial-real-estate-loans/?slreturn=20221119115946

Here’s How Many Homeowners Could Be Stuck With ‘Underwater’ Mortgages in 2023
Money.com, Dec. 19, 2022–Sarah Hansen
Home values are likely to fall next year, and some recent buyers may find themselves in the predicament of being underwater on their mortgages. But experts say most homeowners probably don’t need to worry too much.
https://money.com/homes-owners-underwater-mortgages-2023/

CFPB’s QM Rule Under Scrutiny After Dust-Up Over Bank Statement Loans
National Mortgage News, Dec. 19, 2022–Kate Berry (subscription)
Alan Lindeke, the general counsel at Change Home Mortgage, and an industry veteran who has worked as a senior compliance officer at Bank of California and at Impac Mortgage Corp., caused a brouhaha last month by claiming that most mortgage lenders that originate bank statement loans are not complying with the CFPB’s QM rule. Lindeke alleged that lenders could face up to $10 billion a year in liability if consumers sue them for failing to document their income. However, Lindeke later conceded that the amount was “completely hypothetical” and that borrowers rarely sue their lender except in defense of a foreclosure.
https://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/news/dust-up-over-bank-statement-loans-has-lenders-scrutinizing-qm-rule?

Senate Confirms Martin Gruenberg to New Term Atop FDIC
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 19, 2022–Andrew Ackerman (subscription)
The Senate confirmed Martin Gruenberg for a second term as the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., capping a turbulent period for the agency and cementing Democratic leadership on the bank regulator’s board.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-confirms-martin-gruenberg-to-new-term-atop-fdic-11671493150?mod=hp_lista_pos5

Big US Banks Fall Short on Promises to Create Black Homeowners
Bloomberg, Dec. 19, 2022–Shawn Donnan, Ann Choi, Christopher Cannnon
The 2900 block of Walbrook Avenue in Baltimore is a study in contrasts. Row houses with tidy yards stand next to abandoned brick shells and rundown rental buildings. Residents describe a dwindling community of working-class Black homeowners with ties going back generations. Property records tell another story, one about America’s racial wealth gap and the banks that walked away.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-black-home-loan-broken-promises/?srnd=premium&leadSource=uverify%20wall

UMortgage To Acquire NXT Mortgage
National Mortgage Professional, Dec. 19, 2022–Katie Jensen
UMortgage, based in Philadelphia, has entered into a deal to acquire Dallas-based NXT Mortgage, along with its assets, technology, 35 loan officers, and its founder and president, Tyler Hodgson.
https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/umortgage-acquire-nxt-mortgage

GSE Seller-Servicers See Mortgage Buybacks Spike YOY
Inside Mortgage Finance, Dec. 19, 2022–John Bancroft
Lenders that sell single-family loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have seen rising repurchases since the beginning of last year, but the pipeline of pending buyback claims may have turned a corner.
https://www.insidemortgagefinance.com/articles/226544-gse-seller-servicers-see-mortgage-buybacks-spike-yoy?v=preview

Fannie Mae Cuts 2023 Outlook on Recession Expectations
National Mortgage News, Dec. 19, 2022–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)
The likelihood of a recession drove a reduction in Fannie Mae’s mortgage origination forecast for 2023, albeit only by $16 billion.
https://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/news/fannie-mae-cuts-2023-outlook-on-recession-expectations

Higher Mortgage Rates Exposed Rocket’s Vulnerability–Can it Prove Itself as a Fintech?
HousingWire, December 19, 2022–Connie Kim
With rival UWM now the #1 mortgage lender in America, Rocket is betting on its platform to develop ‘sticky relationships’ with customers.
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/higher-rates-exposed-rockets-vulnerability-can-it-prove-itself-as-a-fintech/

Tech’s Bust Delivers Bruising Blow to Hollowed-Out San Francisco
Bloomberg, Dec. 19, 2022–Romy Varghese, Priya Anand
As mounting signs point to a global recession in 2023, perhaps nowhere in the US stands to struggle more than San Francisco, the center of the technology boom that’s now fast unraveling. Nearly three years into the Covid era, persistent work-from-home habits, inordinately expensive real estate, homelessness and crime are colliding to threaten the city’s growth and its spot among the world’s top-tier metropolises.
Job cuts and remote work are colliding to reshape the center of American innovation.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-19/san-francisco-s-feeling-the-pain-of-big-tech-s-troubles-remote-work?srnd=premium