MBA Newslinks Archive

“Even as a strong market broadly benefits homeowners, it’s still very hard for people starting with less money ever to catch up. On an absolute-dollar basis, homeowners in minority communities became wealthier, but still fell further behind.”–Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, on an analysis of home values in white, minority and mixed-race neighborhoods between 2012 and 2018.

“While mortgage rates remain low by historic standards, they are creeping upward, eating into what buyers can pay, and in a handful of pricey markets, affordability already looks unnervingly low. Among lower-income buyers in those pricey markets, it is outright impossible to afford the mortgage on even a lower-priced home. As rates rise, both buyers and sellers will have to temper their expectations further.”–Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas.

“Housing is simply too important to our national economy and our local communities to risk disruption of the system by which it is financed.” –From an “open letter” by MBA and other trade groups to the Trump Administration and Congress urging action on secondary mortgage market reform.

“The job market remains quite strong, supporting purchase demand, which is 2 percent higher than last year at this time. However, home prices, while decelerating, continue to rise faster than household income. Average loan size for purchase loans dropped to its lowest level since December 2017, a sign that first-time buyers are finding a way into the market.”–MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“I’m really gratified with how great a state the Association is in and how committed, capable and enthusiastic the staff is about serving our industry and membership and caring so deeply about how they do their work. I feel I’m walking into a healthy organization with committed and high-performing employees.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.

“While ongoing supply constraints are reinforcing the floor on home prices right now, the experts’ forecasts still imply the joists will start to crack sometime next year, and result in sub-3 percent annual home-value appreciation in 2020 and beyond. For the first time, a majority of the experts said that there is downside risk to their long-term outlook for home values nationally.” –Pulsenomics Founder Terry Loebs.

“Although the mortgage process is extremely complex and heavily regulated, digital experiences in other businesses have increased the demand for digital resources to speed up the onerous mortgage process.”–Henry Cason, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President of Digital Products.

“After an exceptionally weak start to the year, production profitability improved in the second quarter as volume picked up from the spring home buying season. Mortgage originators evidently responded to first quarter losses by reducing their expenses in the second quarter, as production expenses dropped by over $1,000 per loan. However, production revenues declined as competition for loans stiffened, negating a portion of these cost-cutting efforts.”–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

“The report shows welcome engagement from Treasury and directs the government’s regulatory priorities and the future of the mortgage market. It’s very gratifying to see many long-standing MBA priorities reflected in the report, and we look forward to working with the relevant stakeholders in implementating these recommendations.”–Justin Wiseman, MBA Associate Vice President and Regulatory Counsel, on a recent Treasury Department report on the regulatory landscape that largely incorporates MBA recommendations to remove technology barriers to improve efficiency, lower costs and enhance customer experience.

“While the observed denial rate can be useful, it can’t provide evidence that equally qualified applicants are being treated differently because of race or ethnicity.”–From an Urban Institute report examining denial rates for minority mortgage applicants.