MBA Newslinks Archive

“The small moves in rates and refinancing are potentially signs that lenders may be approaching capacity constraints as they continue to deal with the largest wave of refinance activity in three years.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“A market can become highly competitive when buyers agree that home values will increase steeply in the future. If you believe home values will go up hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next five years, you will race to bid five or ten thousand dollars above asking price today. So, even though it may take a decade for Amazon’s HQ2 to grow the size of the Seattle headquarters, attracting high-earners and driving economic growth in the surrounding area, homebuyers and home sellers are already operating under the assumption that there will be strong demand for homes going forward.”–Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.

“The drop in housing starts in July was driven by a sharp 17 percent decline in multifamily starts, especially in the Northeast. Nationally, single-family starts were up for the month and the year.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

MBA commends HUD for proposing these revisions to the annual lender certification and providing the opportunity for further stakeholder input. This is a vitally important step in HUD’s efforts to create an environment in which lenders can operate with clarity and certainty regarding both FHA’s requirements and potential penalties for noncompliance.” –MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB.

“The condominium market is a critical gateway to affordable homeownership, and MBA applauds the steps FHA has taken to increase borrowers’ accessibility to quality housing. The new guidelines, many of which MBA advocated for, will create more financing options that will help first-time homebuyers and low-to-moderate income borrowers. It will also provide lenders with much-needed clarity to promote safe, sustainable, and affordable lending. MBA looks forward to continuing to work with HUD on policies and procedures that promote FHA’s mission.”–Pete Mills, MBA Senior Vice President for Residential Policy and Member Engagement, on FHA’s announcement proposing changes to its Condominium Program.

“The unemployment rate remains quite low, but the national mortgage delinquency rate in the second quarter rose from both the first quarter and one year ago. The economy is slowing, and this poses the risk of further increases in delinquency rates.”–Marina Walsh, MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis.

“Lower mortgage rates have made buying a home more affordable, but not affordable enough for typical homebuyers contending these areas’ sky-high home prices and taxes. The homebuyers who are heading out of town in search of affordability don’t just want to save a few hundred dollars per month, they want to save thousands of dollars per month, and the only way to achieve that kind of cost savings is to move somewhere more affordable.”–Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather.

“A strong labor market and a persistent housing shortage have continued to fuel a robust rental market. As of June, multifamily completions outpaced the prior two years, but demand remains high in the majority of markets allowing them to absorb most of the new supply.”–Freddie Mac Vice President of Multifamily Research and Modeling Steve Guggenmos.

“As you recall, MBA opposed the inclusion of the language preference question in the URLA because of the customer relations issues the question would cause if lenders could not actually serve borrowers in their preferred language, and due to unresolved operational and legal questions raised by the language preference information. We greatly appreciate Director Mark Calabria’s willingness to revisit these concerns and resolve them effectively.”–MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, on an announcement yesterday by the GSEs to delay implementation of the Uniform Residential Loan Application.

“Credit availability in July decreased overall, driven by declines in the conforming and government indices. Conditions tightened some for borrowers with high loan-to-value ratios and lower credit scores. One outlier was the Jumbo Index, which increased to its highest level since the inception of this survey in 2012.” –Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.