Today’s Top National News Dec. 14 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:
Slow Growth for Subprime Servicers but Growth Nonetheless
Inside Mortgage Finance, Dec. 13, 2022–Namrata Bhatia
The nation’s subprime servicing specialists ended the third quarter with $327.3 billion of contracts on their books, a slight sequential improvement of 1.7%, according to a new ranking and analysis from Inside Nonconforming Markets.
https://www.insidemortgagefinance.com/articles/226482-slow-growth-for-subprime-servicers-but-growth-nonetheless?v=preview
MBA Urges FHFA to Increase Income Limits of GSE Low Down Payment Programs
Mortgage Professional America, Dec. 13, 2022–Candyd Mendoza
The Mortgage Bankers Association has sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency urging the regulator to increase the area median income limits in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s low down payment programs.
https://www.mpamag.com/us/news/general/mba-urges-fhfa-to-increase-income-limits-of-gse-low-down-payment-programs/430472
Q3 2022 Saw $70 Billion Increase in Commercial, Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding
MortgageOrb, Dec. 13, 2022–Ariana Fine
Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $70 billion (1.6%) in the third quarter of 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding quarterly report.
https://mortgageorb.com/q3-2022-saw-70-billion-increase-in-commercial-multifamily-mortgage-debt-outstanding
U.S. Existing Home Sales Slide to 11-Year Low in 2023, NAR Says
Reuters, Dec. 13, 2022–Dan Burns
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes will fall for a second year in 2023 to their lowest annual total since 2012 when the housing market was still in a slow recovery from the sub-prime mortgage crisis, but sales prices should hold up, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday.
Mortgage Rates Drop after CPI Report, But the Housing Market is Far from Out of the Woods
CNBC, Dec. 13, 2022–Diana Olick
Rates fell sharply in November, after the CPI report for October indicated that inflation was cooling. The rate ended November at 6.63%. Some suggested, albeit cautiously, that the drop in rates might be bringing buyers back to the market.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/13/mortgage-rates-drop-after-cpi-inflation-report.html
Blend Chairman Sells Off 1.8 Million Shares of Company Stock
National Mortgage News, Dec. 13, 2022–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)
Blend Labs co-founder and Chairman Nima Ghamsari has sold 1.8 million of his shares in the company in order to reduce the amount outstanding of a personal loan secured by those stock holdings.
https://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/news/blend-chairman-sells-off-1-8-million-shares-of-company-stock
Shrinking Office Building Values Are Becoming a Dilemma for City Budgets
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13, 2022–Peter Grant (subscription)
The sharp decline in office building values is likely to become a growing problem for the budgets of cities, schools and other jurisdictions that depend heavily on property taxes from these building owners. https://www.wsj.com/articles/shrinking-office-building-values-are-becoming-a-dilemma-for-city-budgets-11670917430?
How a Hotel Was Converted into Housing for Formerly Homeless People
New York Times, Dec. 13, 2022–Stefanos Chen (subscription)
Though New York City Mayor Eric Adams estimated that 25,000 hotel rooms could be turned into supportive and affordable housing, only one building has been converted so far. And it was in the works before the plan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/11/realestate/nyc-hotel-affordable-housing.html
