MBA Newslinks Archive

“Strong fundamentals and property prices, as well as still low interest rates, continue to support the performance of commercial and multifamily mortgages.”
–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“We’re now in the heart of the spring home buying season and, as has been true for several years, there are still reports of tight inventory.. One driver is that while delinquent borrowers are still more than twice as likely to list their homes for sale, there are far fewer of these borrowers, as well as a much lower share of such homes listed for sale, than in 2012.”–Black Knight Data & Analytics Senior Vice President Ben Graboske.

“TRID treats large changes in circumstances differently than small ones and this can create problems for lenders who think they have 10 percent tolerance for certain kinds of fees when in fact they don’t.”
–Michael Cremata, corporate counsel with ClosingCorp, San Diego. 

“Gains in credit availability caused by the continued roll-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac low down payment programs were offset by modest tightening among government loan programs that serve borrowers in high cost areas.”
–MBA Vice President of Research Lynn Fisher.

“The economy is supporting the price increases with improving labor markets, falling unemployment rates and extremely low mortgage rates. Another factor behind rising home prices is the limited supply of homes on the market.”–David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee with S&P Dow Jones Indices, New York.

“Down payment assistance programs meet a critical need by providing important resources to access homeownership. These programs help responsible families overcome barriers that would prevent them from moving into homeownership. In many ways, these are the very families FHA was designed to help.”–HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Ed Golding, in a directive on down payment assistance programs provided by housing finance agencies.

“With Easter occurring in March, April effectively had one more weekend of sales, and this extra activity looks even better after seasonal adjustment. Even with this boost, however, the rise in home sales reflects real economic gains and underscores the improving housing outlook.”
–Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

“Borrowers who cannot obtain credit due to a limited credit history often turn to predatory options such as payday lending, which come with sky-high interest rates. Others may have to delay major transactions, like buying a car or purchasing a house. In turn, this can spiral into financial ruin. For these reasons, industry participants must be more inclusive and actively seek out ways to score the previously ‘unscoreable.’ Otherwise, we may be overlooking a large proportion of credit-worthy borrowers including many potential first-time home buyers.”
–Barrett Burns, president and CEO of VantageScore Solutions, Stamford, Conn.

“We’ve seen some small borrowers who have provided financial statements handwritten on paper or on napkins or otherwise lacking the sophistication that they need. Making sure borrowers have the right financial professionals engaged is important.”–Bonnie Hochman Rothell, Partner with Morris, Manning & Martin LLP, Washington, D.C., on small balance lending.

“This is an important piece of bipartisan legislation which will help all lenders recruit experienced mortgage loan officers without unnecessary barriers to employment mobility and job opportunity.”–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, on yesterday’s unanimous House passage of H.R. 2121.