MBA Newslinks Archive

“MBA is gratified the Court recognized that the CFPB violated the law when it tried to change longstanding RESPA rules through the enforcement process rather than by issuing a new rule or guidance. This decision notwithstanding, the Bureau still owes the industry clear and constructive guidance on its view of the permissibility under RESPA of arrangements like marketing services agreements. Greater regulatory clarity and consistency on this front will benefit consumers and lenders alike.”–MBA Chairman David Motley, CMB, on the ongoing PHH v. CFPB court case.

“The rapid increase in the longer-term rates over the past month, with 10-year Treasury rates up about 30 basis points during this period, suggests that investors are becoming more worried about the potential for a pickup in inflation, which could lead to a faster pace of rate hikes from the Fed.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“Home prices have risen about three times faster than inflation and twice as fast as income growth over the past year. Home prices are approaching prior peaks broadly, with eight of 20 markets already there. Rising home prices are fueling an affordability migration but there are fewer affordable markets left.”–Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

“You can have a great culture and a lousy strategy and win; you can have a great strategy and a lousy culture and lose. Culture eats strategy for lunch. You have to have a high culture to win.”–Todd Duncan, founder and CEO of High Trust, Las Vegas.

“The current world of CMBS is soon to be exclusively post-legacy. These better metrics may translate into more investor demand that supports a virtuous cycle of more competitive CMBS pricing. This may allow CMBS to steal market share from other sectors.”–Brian Olasov, Executive Director of Financial Services Consulting with Carlton Fields, New York.

“People are not putting their homes up for sale, and there are an increasing number of consumers who want to buy homes. We are simply not meeting demand, and that is going to continue to drive up home prices.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“On the whole, there are more substantial hopes for regulatory relief in this Administration than in the past. We hope they won’t be agents of destruction, but rather they are committed to make some meaningful changes to how the CFPB does its rulemaking.”–MBA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs Bill Killmer.

“The reality is though, while the housing market has largely recovered, we still face daunting obstacles preventing us from doing what we do best–serving the people and families of our communities.”–MBA Chairman Dave Motley, CMB.

“Major housing market dynamics don’t shift dramatically when the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1. We anticipate a continuation of the same trends we’ve been seeing for the past few years. Price growth will remain strong as many homeowners will remain deterred from selling due to the low mortgage rates they’ve locked in and the high price of their would-be move-up home.”–Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson.

“Tight inventory, fueled by a tight labor market and low interest rates, propelled home values to record heights in 2017, but the outlook is now much less certain.”–Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas.