Category: News and Trends

Investor appetite for seniors housing is growing. Nearly two-thirds of investors plan to increase their buying over the next 12 months, said CBRE, Los Angeles.

Last month marked the 10-year anniversary of the end of the Great Recession. First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., said between then and now, housing affordability has improved and borrowers have greater access to credit, which in turn is boosting demand.

Fitch Ratings, New York, said numerous operational improvements made in recent years have led to lower operational risk for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., said its May Loan Application Defect Index fell by 5.5 percent from April, the second consecutive monthly decline.

Fitch Ratings, New York, issued a report saying although alternative document residential mortgage loan products introduced in the US after the financial crisis have performed better than expectations, it maintain a cautious approach to these loans because of their limited history.

Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., said lower interest rates and the spring home buying seasons have led to overall prepayment activity more than doubling over the past four months to the highest level seen since late 2016.

The fastest-growing cities in the United States saw substantial declines in affordable housing units between 2010 and 2017, said Freddie Mac, McLean, Va.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday extended the comment period on its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking relating to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

President Trump yesterday signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing, and named HUD Secretary Ben Carson as its chair.

The Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies’ State of the Nation’s Housing report said overall rents rose at a 3.6 percent annual rate in early 2019, twice the pace of overall inflation.