MBA Newslinks Archive

“The strong economy, low interest rates and liquid finance markets are all contributing to delinquency rates that are at or near record lows for commercial and multifamily mortgage loans. Despite uncertainty on many economic fronts, it is hard to identify factors that would dramatically change the delinquency rate picture in the near term.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Research & Economics Jamie Woodwell.

“Home sales are accelerating as buyers eat into a diminishing number of homes for sale. While these trends are to be expected given that mortgage rates have been declining since late last year, global economic uncertainty and talk of a looming recession in the U.S. are staving off many aspects of hot seller’s market–think bidding wars, fast sales and huge price escalations–at least for now.”–Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather.

“We continue to support the overall efforts to accelerate [HUD’s] IT modernization and maximize the impact to the public and return on investment to taxpayers.”–MBA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs Bill Killmer, in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leadership in support of the fiscal 2020 T-HUD appropriations bill.

“MBA appreciates the Bureau’s willingness to make changes to the Consumer Complaint Database so it will be a better resource for consumers and provide a more accurate depiction of industry performance. The changes announced today by Director [Kathy] Kraninger, and the work in the months ahead, will allow consumers to make better informed and educated decisions with the information the Bureau collects and publishes through its complaint portal.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s announcement of changes to its Consumer Complaint Database.

“There’s a saying–when the tide goes out, you see who’s swimming naked. But fraudsters are not so easy to detect, and they’re not so easy to stop.”–Kyle Armstrong, Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Those in the mortgage industry understand the importance of protecting their customers’ privacy and are acutely aware of their responsibility to protect information and ensure the data they collect is used for appropriate purposes. In order to balance the risk and reward, so that consumers may enjoy the convenience certain innovations provide, there must be parallel development of oversight and regulation to address the issues raised when technology is used. We can ensure responsible innovation without creating unnecessary barriers to widespread use.”–MBA President & CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.

“While we continue to analyze the market impact of FHFA’s guidance, we welcome the simplified framework and continued liquidity to the market.  We also appreciate FHFA’s recognition of the varied capital sources that finance multifamily rental housing and the emphasis on affordable housing as part of the new purchase cap regime. MBA continues to engage closely with FHFA on matters that impact the multifamily finance market and housing finance reform more broadly.” –MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s announcement Friday to raise multifamily loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Nearly half of the country’s renter households are cost-burdened, spending more than thirty percent of their income on housing. The Build More Housing Near Transit Act would spur the development of much-needed housing near transit locations, fulfilling critical transit, housing, economic development and environmental goals.”–From a letter signed by MBA and other trade groups in support of a House bill that would promote affordable housing near public transportation.

“Credit supply declined across the board in August, even as mortgage rates fell and application activity picked up, particularly for refinances. Last month’s decrease was the largest since December 2018, and also the first tightening we have seen for conventional loans all year. We anticipate some weakening of the job market in the year ahead as economic growth cools. It’s possible some lenders may be tightening credit in expectation of a slowdown.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“Mortgages rates continued to decline over the holiday-shortened week, with the 30-year fixed rate decreasing five basis points and remaining near three-year lowsRefinances were essentially unchanged, up just 0.4 percent, but August overall was the strongest month of activity so far in 2019.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.