MBA Newslinks Archive

“December may feel like a foot on the brake, but the housing market was going over the speed limit. Home prices have been growing faster than wages since 2012, and that can’t go on forever. Now that price growth has slowed down and more homes are sitting on the market, buyers will have the upper hand in 2019.” –Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather.

“Factors such a volatile stock market and economic uncertainty both here and abroad likely kept some prospective buyers away. This pullback in activity was in spite of falling mortgage rates and a job market still running on all cylinders. Looking ahead, if mortgage rates remain low, home-price growth continues to moderate and housing inventory rises, we do expect to see a rebound in purchase activity come spring.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“The spring homebuying season is almost upon us, and if rates stay lower, inventory continues to grow and the job market maintains its strength, we do expect to see a solid spring market. The 11 percent gain in purchase volume compared to last year is a promising sign.”–Mike Fratantoni, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist.

“It’s hard to buy what’s not for sale.”–First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming, on how lengthening homeownership tenure has driven up prices and shrunk housing supply.

“We are proud to have achieved these positive results for consumers, and we will continue to advocate for sensible steps to keep home financing broadly available to all qualified Americans.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.

“While the market fundamentals remain solid and we still expect the overall housing market to remain healthy, there is a definite slowing down of most markets.”–Eric Fox, Vice President of Statistical and Economic Modeling with Veros, Burlingame, Calif.

“Approximately 50 to 60 percent of mortgages originated between 2005 and 2007 that experienced foreclosure in the first two years after origination were mortgage loans with features that the ATR/QM Rule generally eliminates, restricts or otherwise excludes from the definition of a qualified mortgage, such as loans that combined low initial monthly payments with subsequent payment reset or those made with limited or no documentation of the consumer’s income or assets. Loans with these features had largely disappeared from the market prior to the adoption of the Rule, and today they appear to be restricted to a limited market of highly credit-worthy borrowers.”–From a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau assessment of effectiveness of its Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule.

“The decline was driven by a sharp decrease in the conventional credit space, as we saw expiration of the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Expiration of HARP also significantly impacted the availability of credit for both conforming non-jumbo and jumbo loans.”–MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan.

“[The] drop in rates spurred a flurry of refinance activity–particularly for borrowers with larger loans. The surge in refinance activity also brought the refinance index to its highest level since last July.”–MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasts Joel Kan.

“Mortgage bankers look to 2019 as another strong year for the commercial and multifamily mortgage markets. The majority of top firms expect that strong appetites from both lenders and borrowers will drive commercial mortgage originations higher.”–MBA Vice President for Research and Economics Jamie Woodwell.