MBA Newslinks Archive

“Today’s proposed changes would provide much needed relief to smaller community banks and credit unions while still providing federal regulators and other stakeholders with the information we need under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.” –CFPB Director Kathleen L. Kraninger, on proposed rulemakings to change reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

“As expected, the Federal Reserve left short-term rates unchanged at their May meeting, and continue to hint that they will remain patient, which would mean keeping rates at their current level at least through the end of the year. Additionally, the Fed provided more color regarding the pending change with respect to the balance sheet, where they will begin to buy U.S. Treasury securities again this fall, while allowing [mortgage-backed securities] to continue roll off.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“The increase in pending home sales in March aligns with the rise in purchase applications we reported for the month. The strengthening job market, combined with lower mortgage rates and increased housing supply in many markets, helped more prospective buyers find a home last month. In short, conditions are ripe for further sales increases in the coming months.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“Cooling house price gains, home sales activity, and remodeling permitting are lowering our expectations for home improvement and repair spending this year and next. Yet, more favorable mortgage rates could still give a boost to home sales and refinancing this spring and summer, which could help buoy remodeling activity.”–Chris Herbert, Managing Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

“Although this advance estimate is subject to revision, if it holds up, this faster growth should continue to provide strong support for the job and housing markets…Overall, a solid start of the year for the economy.”–Mike Fratantoni, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist.

“The market volatility and decline in consumer confidence that we saw in late 2018 and early 2019 seemed to confirm what other housing indicators showed: a somewhat slow first couple of months of the year for the housing market.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“There may be more homes available for sale over the course of the month, but that’s because more leftovers from previous months are sticking around. In truth, fewer homeowners are putting their homes on the market and buyer demand is falling back. Buyers won’t have as much competition this shopping season and can take more time finding the perfect match, if it’s out there.”–Zillow Director of Economic Research Skylar Olsen.

“The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has risen 10 basis points in three weeks, and is now at its highest level in over a month. Borrowers remain extremely sensitive to rate changes, which is why there has been a 28 percent drop in refinance applications over this three-week period. Purchase activity also declined, but remains almost 3 percent higher than a year ago. Borrowing costs have recently drifted higher because of ebbing geopolitical concerns, as well as signs of strengthening in the U.S. economy, including the recent data pointing to robust retail sales.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“Sales have been volatile in 2019 thus far, but the average for the first three months of the year is around 5 percent lower than in 2018. We had expected this to be stronger, given the solid economy and job market, but the high end of the market has started to cool off, and the lower price tiers are still hampered by a lack of availability.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“On a year-over-year basis, single-family starts have fallen in five of the past six months. While severe winter weather in the Midwest likely led to the significant drop in that region, the overall building trend is not heading into the right direction. There needs to be more new inventory to satisfy the solid buyer demand in most of the country, especially for the lower-priced, first-time buyer segment of the market.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.