MBA Newslinks Archive

“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.

“Condo prices are garnering media attention as markets like Miami are beginning to lose some of their momentum.”–Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

“Despite peak value concerns, the strength of Manhattan’s underlying economy and the robust demand for properties are enough to inspire optimism in the majority of New York City commercial real estate professionals.”
–William Jennings, Partner-in-Charge of Marks Paneth’s Real Estate Group. 

“Policies driven by the government appear to be geared toward expanding the credit box. But incentives within the system appear to challenge the ability of lenders to expand the credit spectrum…our challenge is to strike the right balance.”–Faith Schwartz, senior vice president of government affairs with CoreLogic, Washington, D.C.

“We need to focus on how to make better credit decisions. Demographically, we have a lot more minority home buyers coming into the market and it’s going to force us all to figure out how to address these new households. In some cases, we will have multiple families living in the same house and we need to create products that appeal to those situations.”
–Dave Lowman, executive vice president of single-family business with Freddie Mac, McLean, Va.

“When I think about the real estate market today, the one word I keep coming back to is opportunity. And this opportunity is built on a platform of protections, confidence and skill sets that exist to make sure we build a positive future for America’s next homeowners under the umbrella of the safest system in the world. Because of this opportunity, now is the time for leadership and perseverance.”
–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB.

“The ongoing housing crunch appears unevenly felt by first-time homebuyers due to even lower inventory of entry-level homes. There are signs that the supply shortage and resulting price bidding are driving prices of entry-level homes to rise much faster than the median property on the market.”–Yanling Mayer, Housing Economist and Director of Research with FNC Inc., Oxford, Miss.

“The delinquency rate of 4.77 percent has returned to typical pre-recession levels and is lower than the historical average of 5.4 percent for the period from 1979 through the first quarter.”–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.