Category: Top National News

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Feb. 16, 2018–Michael E. KanellIt’s not a unique idea: leasing a home as a stepping stone to buying it. Still, for some people–who don’t have a lot of savings yet–the idea might make sense, said economist Lynn Fisher of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2018–Jill Chodorov KaminskyThe number of zero-down loans issued today are significantly lower than we experienced in the market boom, but lenders still see them as a way to entice people to stay in the market.

HousingWire, Feb. 20, 2018–Kelsey RamirezThe serious mortgage delinquency rate decreased in the final quarter of 2017 to the lowest point since the great recession, according to TransUnion’s Q4 2017 Industry Insights Report.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 14, 2018–Lalita Clozel (subscription)The House on Wednesday approved a bill that would make the resale of high-interest loans more attractive to third-party buyers such as debt collectors-and bolster fintech firms’ partnerships with banks.

National Mortgage Professional, Feb. 14, 2018–Phil HallFannie Mae reported a net loss of $6.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 and stated that it will need $3.7 billion from the Treasury Department. Timothy J. Mayopoulos, president and CEO of Fannie Mae, blamed the government-sponsored enterprise’s dismal fourth quarter data on a “one-time accounting charge” tied to the recent tax reform legislation.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 14, 2018–Gretchen Morgenson (subscription)In a Feb. 13 letter to Timothy Sloan, Wells Fargo’s chief executive, Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, posed almost a dozen questions about the bank’s troubled customer-remediation programs.

The Real Deal (N.Y.), Feb. 14, 2018–Konrad PutzierThe mortgage real estate investment trust issued $1.2 billion in new loans in the fourth quarter and $4.8 billion over the entire year–up 37 percent from 2016.

Washington Post Writers Group, Feb. 13, 2018–Kenneth R. HarneyCould predatory lending practices affecting veterans also be inflating interest rates paid by thousands of unsuspecting homebuyers using Federal Housing Administration loans? Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said “it absolutely impacts interest rates” adversely when investors cut the prices they’ll pay for Ginnie Mae bonds.

Marketplace, Feb. 13, 2018–Sabri Ben-Achour, Jana KasperkevicAmericans owe $8.88 trillion in mortgages loans. That’s a good thing, according to Joelle Scally, the administrator of the Center for Microeconomic Data at the New York Fed. Household debt has been growing for five years but mortgage balance growth has been slow since it stopped declining in 2013. The recent jump in mortgage debt is a proof of recovery in the housing market.

HousingWire, Feb. 13, 2018–Ben LaneNationstar announced Tuesday morning it is merging with WMIH Corp., the former parent company of Washington Mutual in a $3.8 billion deal.