MBA Newslinks Archive

“You’d have to go back 74 years to observe similar living arrangements among American young women. Young men, too, are increasingly living in the same situation, but unlike women their share hasn’t climbed to its level from 1940, the highest year on record.”
–Pew Senior Researcher Richard Fry, on high percentages of Millennial-aged women and men still living with family.

“On top of normal seasonal slowdown, the October decline in mortgage applications to builder affiliates was likely amplified by some applications being pulled forward into September ahead of the implementation of the Know Before You Owe Rule on October 3. Despite the decrease, our estimate of new single-family housing sales for October was up more than 7 percent from a year ago.” –MBA Vice President of Economics and Research Lynn Fisher. 

“We are grateful that both House and Senate bills continue to fund FHA’s administrative costs through regular appropriations processes, as has been the practice for decades, and reject HUD’s unprecedented request to charge a fee on residential lenders that will undoubtedly be passed on to borrowers and raise the cost of homeownership.”  
–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, in a letter to House and Senate appropriators on HUD Fiscal 2016 funding.

“Every major investor group and property type except one has seen increases in year-to-date lending volumes, and we expect year-end numbers to continue that trend.”
–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.   

“The unemployment rate is well within the Fed’s central tendency for full employment, and the U-6 unemployment rate also ticked down noticeably in the month. Reduced slack in the labor market is beginning to lead to increased wages.”
–John Silvia, chief economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

“MBA commends the full House for its strong bipartisan vote to pass the Neugebauer-Huizenga amendment and remove from the highway bill an extension of higher Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees that would have served as a tax on homeownership, as well as a harmful reduction in the dividend paid on Federal Reserve bank stock. Given the widespread support for the amendment from Republicans and Democrats alike, we will continue to strongly advocate for the House position as House and Senate leaders meet to reconcile the differences between the two chambers’ highway bills.”  
–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB. 

“The purpose of these fees is to guard against credit losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and should only be used to protect taxpayers from mortgage losses. The amendment would also remove a harmful proposal to reduce the dividend paid on Federal Reserve stock, which would reduce the amount of capital banks of all sizes have to lend to small businesses and consumers. MBA urges the House to pass this amendment in order to protect taxpayers, consumers and the overall health of the housing and finance system.”
–MBA President and CEO David Stevens.

“The proposed language requires lenders to report all errors, regardless of their materiality to compliance. Under this strict standard–meeting all requirements at all times–the FHA certification does not recognize good faith compliance by the majority of its approved lenders and causes them to qualify certifications under a more stringent and inconsistent annual reporting standard.”
–MBA Senior Vice President of Residential Policy and Member Engagement Pete Mills., in a letter to HUD over proposed changes to FHA loan-level certifications.

“Many consumers still prefer speaking to an expert at certain points during the mortgage shopping process. At the same time, mortgage lenders should consider the appropriate mix of traditional, online and mobile mortgage channels and functionality to address the evolving consumer preferences of the particular market segments they serve.”–Fannie Mae Director of Business Strategy Steve Deggendorf.

“Given the depth and complexity of these issues and the need for stakeholders to have adequate time to comment on this important rule, we urge the Commission and FINRA to revise the public comment period to at least 45 days.” -From a joint letter sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority regarding a proposed rule that would require collateral be posted on forward-settling agency securities.