MBA Newslinks Archive

“When faced with hurdles of high prices and low inventory, first-time homebuyers are renting longer than ever before even if they are qualified to buy.”–Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell.

“Mortgage performance improved again in the second quarter primarily because of the combination of lower unemployment, strong job growth and a continued nationwide housing market recovery.” –Marina Walsh, MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis.

“Month over month declines in applications are part of the normal seasonal pattern this time of year. Mortgage applications to home builders in July increased at the slowest year over year pace to date in 2016 at just 2.4 percent over a year ago.”–MBA Vice President of Research and Economics Lynn Fisher.

“The industry has also been consolidating, with the huge numbers of companies becoming a more manageable group representing depositories, non-banks and third-party providers. As this happens, more focused growth is occurring and that leads to job creation in general staff ranks. Outreach efforts are happening now among many companies seeking new talent from all sectors, including the diverse segments all around the nation. As the industry becomes more attractive to newcomers, significant progress should be seen in workforce diversity results.”–Rick Glass, CEO of Rick Glass Executive Search, Sacramento, Calif.

“Because distressed saturation levels are one of the key indicators of a market’s overall health, low frequencies of these sales in the market could be a sign of a healthy market.”–Alex Villacorta, vice president of research and analytics with Clear Capital, Reno, Nev.

“While the trend in job growth has slowed over the past year, it remains sufficient in putting downward pressure on the unemployment rate. With the participation rate more stable and average hourly wages strengthening, the Fed can be more assured the labor market is at full employment.”–John Silvia, chief economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

“Remember, even at the end of How I Met Your Mother, they moved to the suburbs.”–Darin Mellott, director of research & analysis with CBRE, Los Angeles.

“We have concluded that there are a number of unresolved issues related to including the question on the redesigned URLA and that attempting to resolve all of those issues in the timeframe in which we are currently operating would unduly delay the 2016 roll-out of the new URLA and put the 2018 implementation date at risk. Consequently, FHFA has decided not to include a question about language preference on the new URLA at this time.”–Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin Watt, in a letter to MBA and other trade groups saying the agency will not include a controversial proposed question on home buyers’ language preference.

“If sea levels rise as much as climate scientists predict by the year 2100, nearly 300 U.S. cities would lose at least half their homes, and 36 U.S. cities would be completely lost. One in eight Florida homes would be underwater, accounting for nearly half of the lost housing value nationwide.”–From a Zillow Inc. report on the potential impact of Antarctic ice shelf melting.

“There are many conceptualizations of how to measure housing affordability and there are many affordability indexes. All measures are based on judgments of which components of housing costs should be included and judgments about when these costs should be considered excessive.”–Donald Haurin, emeritus professor of economics at the Ohio State University and author of a Research Institute for Housing America study on performance and methodologies of housing affordability indexes.