MBA Newslinks Archive

In high-cost areas of the country, FHA’s loan limit ceiling will increase to $726,525, from $679,650. FHA will also increase its floor to $314,827 from $294,515.

“Despite a still-strong job market and recent declines in mortgage rates, affordability challenges continue to hold back sales activity, as wage growth still lags behind home-price growth. Additionally, recent stock market volatility and some economic uncertainty likely also contributed to the pullback in home sales in November.”–MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan.

“[Mark Calabria] has a deep background in housing finance issues and we have enjoyed a good working relationship with him in his current and past roles. We look forward to working with him on a wide variety of housing finance issues, not the least of which is resolving the now-decade long conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a way that best serves borrowers, protects taxpayers and ensures equal access to stable and liquid secondary mortgage markets for a wide variety of single- and multifamily lenders, regardless of size or business model.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, on news that the Trump Administration intends to nominate Mark Calabria to be Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

“That is the first decline we’ve seen since the housing recovery began, and its cause can be traced directly to softening home prices in some of the nation’s most expensive–and equity-rich–markets.”–Black Knight Executive Vice President Ben Graboske, on a decline in “tappable” U.S. home equity reported in the third quarter.

“The labor market remains quite strong, with the unemployment rate still near 50-year lows, and wage growth above 3 percent on an annual basis. With home-price growth also slowing and mortgage rates easing a bit, sustained wage growth of better than 3 percent certainly helps affordability conditions as we head into 2019. Overall, the economy is growing, but the rate of growth is slowing, and we expect that trend to continue over the next two years. This backdrop still provides solid support for consumer spending broadly, and steady demand for housing.” –MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

“Kathy Kraninger an intelligent, experienced administrator who has worked on a broad range of complex, high-profile issues over the course of her career. We look forward to working with her and anticipate she will continue the Bureau’s efforts to protect consumers by providing financial institutions clear and understandable regulations accompanied by appropriate compliance and implementation requirements.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, on Senate approval of Kathy Kraninger as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“The supply of credit continues to drift higher, driven once again by growth in the conventional credit space, while credit supply in government loans was essentially unchanged from the previous month. There were more mortgage programs offered with high LTV and low credit score characteristics–likely attributable to rising demand from first-time buyers.” –Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“Rising prices and interest rates have reduced home buyer activity and led to a gradual slowing in appreciation. October’s mortgage rates were the highest in seven and a half years, eroding buyer affordability.”–Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif.

“Commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquency rates are extremely low right now. The delinquency rate for loans held on bank balance sheets set a new series low, and delinquency rates for loans held by life companies or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are all below 10 basis points.”–MBA Vice President for Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“The stock-market fluctuations that began last quarter likely caused some uncertainty among wealthy individuals, which has made luxury buyers more sensitive to price.”–Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.