MBA Newslinks Archive

“To tackle the housing affordability crisis, we need public-private partnerships to help bring the price point down to create more affordable housing, more supply overall to address the critical housing shortage, including by reducing the regulatory cost of building a home and an increase in direct assistance to renters. It’s more effective to tie assistance to a renter rather than a rental unit.”–From an industry trade letter, signed on by MBA, opposing a California bill that would impose new rent control standards statewide.

“The lack of affordable housing is presenting significant challenges to families across the country. We need to explore how the lending community can better partner with public, private and non-profit stakeholders to ensure more Americans have access to homes they can afford.As the trade association representing the full breadth and depth of the mortgage lending community, MBA should, and will, be a leader in finding innovative solutions.”–MBA President and CEO Robert D. Broeksmit, CMB.

“Government credit supply continues to decline since peaking in 2017, as there are fewer streamlined refinance programs being offered.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“Mortgage rates for all loan types fell by a sizeable margin for the second straight week, pulled down by trade tensions with China and Mexico, the financial markets reacting to more bearish communication from several Fed officials and weaker than expected hiring in May. Despite the less positive outlook, both purchase and refinance applications surged, driven mainly by these lower rates.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“Commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquencies remain at or near record lows for most capital sources, and it’s hard to imagine loans performing better than they currently do.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“As the industry moves closer to a potential sunset of LIBOR, MBA is taking the lead to help its members communicate to consumers how the switch to a new index would affect them if they choose a LIBOR-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage product. The disclosure template is one of the many ongoing steps that MBA is taking well in advance to ensure a smooth transition away from LIBOR.”–Pete Mills, MBA Senior Vice President of Residential Policy and Member Services.

“Independent mortgage bankers experienced improvements in the first three months of the year. This was a welcoming sign following a very difficult end of 2018, in which profitability reached its lowest level since our survey’s inception in 2008.”–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

“Under Lisa’s leadership, MBA has made strides to ensure our industry’s workforce reflects and understands the increasingly diverse consumers we serve in communities across America.”–Marcia Davies, MBA Chief Operating Officer and founder of mPower, about MBA Chief Financial and Diversity and Inclusion Officer Lisa Haynes, who was presented with the 2019 Diversity & Inclusion Award by the Council for Inclusion in Financial Services.

“The vast majority of commercial and multifamily mortgage lenders report they are working on the transition away from LIBOR, but the devil is in the details. Most firms are already taking some steps, including changing language in loan documents, but they also report relying on regulators and industry-bodies to make decisions before they take certain actions. The net result is a fair amount of uncertainty about the mechanics of the transition away from LIBOR, and an overall hesitation as many firms wait for others to lead the way.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“Digital platforms are speeding up mortgage processing on the front and back ends. When borrowers leverage online platforms for providing documents and completing necessary forms, we have found it reduces information intake time by more than 60 percent on average.”–Rick Bechtel, Head of U.S. Residential Lending for TD Bank, Cherry Hill, N.J.