National Mortgage News, May 19, 2016–Finkelstein, Brad
Fannie Mae is expecting a flat to declining interest rate environment for the next two years, while Freddie Mae believes rates will rise. Mike Fratantoni of the MBA predicted a 10-basis-point rise to 3.95%.
National Mortgage News, May 19, 2016–Passy, Jacob
The experience of updating systems and overhauling workflows that mortgage lenders gleaned from implementing the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures could prove useful to portfolio lenders as they implement a similarly complex accounting rule for reporting credit losses.
MarketWatch, May 19, 2016–Riquier, Andrea
Here’s another sign the housing market is healing: even the undead are fading away. Zombie foreclosures–properties in the foreclosure process that have been left vacant–are down 30% in as of mid-May.
Bloomberg, May 19, 2016–Orr, Emma; Chiglinsky, Katherine
Essent Group Ltd. may have an opportunity to buy Radian Group Inc., the rival mortgage insurer whose chief executive officer is stepping down, an analyst at BTIG LLC said.
Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2016–Andriotis, Annamaria; Sidel, Robin
U.S. credit-card balances are on track to hit $1 trillion this year, as banks aggressively push their plastic and consumers grow more comfortable carrying debt.
Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2016–Stevens, David
MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, argues that traditional banks have pulled back from the mortgage lending business, primarily due to the federal government’s onerous enforcement regime that is extracting hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and settlements. “Borrowers are fortunate to have well-capitalized and well-regulated independent mortgage banks ready to plug the gap,” he said.
HousingWire, May 18, 2016–Swanson, Brena
Housing is as close to solving GSE reform as it is in solving “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
HousingWire, May 19, 2016–Ramirez, Kelsey
Nearly all mortgage servicers subject to the terms of the National Mortgage Settlement achieved complete compliance with the NMS’s servicing rules in the first half of 2015, according to a report from molnitor Joseph Smith.
National Mortgage Professional, May 18, 2016–Hall, Phil
The Federal Housing Administration is proposing a new rule that it claims will strengthen its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program.
Bloomberg, May 19, 2016–House, Billy; Cirilli, Kevin
Donald Trump says he’ll deliver a plan in the next two weeks to rewrite the Dodd-Frank law. Around the same time, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling is promising to make his own proposal.
