MBA Newslinks Archive

“Millennials are not only interested in homeownership, they are the primary reason that the homeownership rate increased over the past year.” –Mark Fleming, chief economist with First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif.

“Less than half of all active foreclosures are now tied to loans originated during the last housing bubble, one of several data milestones in this report showing that the U.S. housing market has mostly cleared out the backlog of bad loans that triggered the housing and financial crisis nearly a decade ago.”–Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif.

“We saw a strong January and February, and that may have pulled some activity forward. We did, however, see the third straight month over month increase, which is in line with the typical seasonal pattern at this time of the year.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, on latest MBA Builder Application Survey data.

“Now, with this bill, the voice of justice speaks again. It proclaims that Fair Housing for all, all human beings who live in this country, is now part of the American way of life.”–President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the Fair Housing Act into law on Apr. 11, 1968.

“2017 was a very strong year, driven by solid property fundamentals, rising property values, low interest rates and a ready supply of mortgage capital all contributing to extraordinarily attractive finance markets. We expect another robust year in 2018, even with the slight increase in interest rates, although perhaps not quite as robust as 2017.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“Growing racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S. population helps explain some of the rise in multigenerational living. The Asian and Hispanic populations overall are growing more rapidly than the white population, and those groups are more likely than whites to live in multigenerational family households.”–From a Pew Research report on record growth in U.S. multigenerational households.

“Millennials are now officially the largest group of homebuyers in the U.S. Despite rising interest rates, we’re continuing to see Millennials exercise their purchase power across the United States.”–Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of corporate strategy with Ellie Mae, Pleasanton, Calif.

“Commercial and multifamily mortgages ended 2017 by continuing to perform extraordinarily well. Commercial real estate rents and vacancies held relatively steady during the quarter and interest rates were relatively stable. New construction of CRE assets appears to have largely plateaued.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“The challenge today is that we have a system with an extraordinary amount of uncertainty in the origination process. One of the things we have to do is look at the burdens imposed on lenders, who must navigate a complex set of compliance and regulatory requirements that remain subject to interpretation. It’s making lenders reluctant to engage in FHA loans.”–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, speaking at the National Fair Housing Alliance’s National Access to Credit Forum.

“While credit scores play only a limited role in the underwriting process for loans acquired by the Enterprises, their impact on borrower eligibility and loan pricing warrants periodic review. Given that any changes to the existing Enterprise requirements would entail operational challenges that bring with them additional costs, it is important to understand what can be gained from such changes.”–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, in a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency on credit score requirements.