MBA Newslinks Archive

“The spring homebuying season is almost upon us, and if rates stay lower, inventory continues to grow and the job market maintains its strength, we do expect to see a solid spring market. The 11 percent gain in purchase volume compared to last year is a promising sign.”–Mike Fratantoni, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist.

“It’s hard to buy what’s not for sale.”–First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming, on how lengthening homeownership tenure has driven up prices and shrunk housing supply.

“We are proud to have achieved these positive results for consumers, and we will continue to advocate for sensible steps to keep home financing broadly available to all qualified Americans.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.

“While the market fundamentals remain solid and we still expect the overall housing market to remain healthy, there is a definite slowing down of most markets.”–Eric Fox, Vice President of Statistical and Economic Modeling with Veros, Burlingame, Calif.

“Approximately 50 to 60 percent of mortgages originated between 2005 and 2007 that experienced foreclosure in the first two years after origination were mortgage loans with features that the ATR/QM Rule generally eliminates, restricts or otherwise excludes from the definition of a qualified mortgage, such as loans that combined low initial monthly payments with subsequent payment reset or those made with limited or no documentation of the consumer’s income or assets. Loans with these features had largely disappeared from the market prior to the adoption of the Rule, and today they appear to be restricted to a limited market of highly credit-worthy borrowers.”–From a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau assessment of effectiveness of its Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule.

“The decline was driven by a sharp decrease in the conventional credit space, as we saw expiration of the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Expiration of HARP also significantly impacted the availability of credit for both conforming non-jumbo and jumbo loans.”–MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan.

“[The] drop in rates spurred a flurry of refinance activity–particularly for borrowers with larger loans. The surge in refinance activity also brought the refinance index to its highest level since last July.”–MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasts Joel Kan.

“Mortgage bankers look to 2019 as another strong year for the commercial and multifamily mortgage markets. The majority of top firms expect that strong appetites from both lenders and borrowers will drive commercial mortgage originations higher.”–MBA Vice President for Research and Economics Jamie Woodwell.

“Every aspect of the December jobs report was strong: more jobs, more people looking for work, and the fastest wage growth since 2009. This is good news for the housing market, where the strong job market boosts the confidence of potential homebuyers. The strong reading was certainly needed, given the incredible stock market volatility this past month.”–Mike Fratantoni, Chief Economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“The outlook for 2019 is certainly both cloudier and blurrier than the outlook a year ago. Housing wealth may have touched new highs this year, but home value gains don’t translate into dollars in the bank account unless homeowners opt to sell or borrow against their home and, in contrast to previous housing booms, many Americans have been more reluctant in recent years to spend against their home’s worth.”–Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas.