MBA Newslinks Archive

“With elevated prepayment activity, we continued to see hits to servicing profitability resulting from mortgage servicing right markdowns and amortization. Nonetheless, the profitability on the production side of the business generally outweighed servicing losses.”–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

“As homeowners feel increasingly confident about the outlook of housing and their homeownership investments, they are more likely to consider a move for themselves–up, down or laterally to another market. Perhaps this is a signal that more existing homes may gradually come to market freeing up more options for first-time and move-up buyers.”–Gino Blefari, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Irvine, Calif.

“The recent string of monthly increases in commercial real estate valuations confirms that pricing remains on the upswing following the weakness seen earlier this year.”–Peter Muoio, chief economist with Ten-X, Irvine, Calif.

“Trended data credit reports provide information going back two years on every account in the consumer’s report, allowing a far more extensive evaluation of each borrower’s use of credit.”
–Stan Baldwin, chief operating officer with Informative Research, Garden Grove, Calif.

“While the overhang of distressed properties has largely cleared the market, the housing crash still casts a large shadow over the housing market, making it difficult for the housing market to rev completely back up. Mortgage underwriting remains stricter than it has in the past and appraisals are often too cautious as well. New home construction has also been slow to come back online, worsening supply constraints.”–Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

“The publication today of the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application represents a significant step in a multi-year effort to update, standardize and enhance the quality of loan information for underwriting single-family mortgages.”–Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt.

“The constrained supply in this sellers’ market continues to frustrate potential homebuyers and adds further upward pressure to nominal home prices. While nominal price growth remains strong, prices adjusted for the impact of income and interest rate changes on consumer house-buying power remain historically very low.”–Mark Fleming, chief economist with First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif.

“Given that a bank failure is highly unlikely to cause a liquidity event for borrowers and the proposed rule would unnecessarily increase costs for banks and servicers, MBAstrongly recommends that the final FDIC Recordkeeping rule include an exemption for MSAs. This recommendation comports with the existing treatment of MSAs, which hasbeen an effective and well accepted regulatory regime by the banking and servicing industries.”–From an MBA letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on a proposed rule relating to recordkeeping for timely deposit insurance determination.

“Unless and until HUD provides more definitive guidance on the topic, MBA recommends that FHA lenders consult with legal counsel and consider carefully whether and when to participate in down payment assistance programs from HFAs that rely on premium pricing mechanisms. MBA will continue to press HUD/FHA for clarity on this important issue.” –MBA Senior Vice President of Residential Policy and Member Engagement Pete Mills.

“Hotel demand usually falls victim to the natural death of the up-cycle barring catastrophic events. This current expansion phase has lasted more than 27 quarters, so it is likely that a recession is near given that certain past up-cycles were either shorter or slightly longer than this recovery.”
–Jack Corgel, Managing Director with CBRE Hotels Americas Research.