Category: News and Trends

Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $38.0 billion in the third quarter, as three of the four major investor groups increased their holdings, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.

As the end of the year approaches, many people start considering what personal resolutions they’re going to make to better themselves in the coming year. For quality control professionals, now may also be the time to decide the needed changes to improve loan quality in 2016.

The Mortgage Bankers Association this week urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency to direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce their retained risk and that FHFA incorporate more explicit up-front risk sharing targets in the GSEs’ 2016 scorecards.

NASHVILLE–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said GSE reform, which has stalled in Congress for the past several years, will emerge as a key issue in following the 2016 elections.

Zillow Inc., Seattle, said despite improvements in negative equity rates, underwater mortgages continue to hold the housing market back from full recovery, particularly in hard-hit areas. 

NASHVILLE–For the past couple of years, it’s been good to be an independent mortgage banker.  

This week’s chart shows the recent price spread (per $100 of face value) between Ginnie Mae and Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities.

HOPE NOW yesterday reported the mortgage industry completed 337,000 non-foreclosure actions for homeowners during the third quarter.  

Since fourth quarter 2012, New Jersey, New York and Florida have had the highest percentage of loans in foreclosure in the nation, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey. All three states primarily use a judicial foreclosure process. 

Student loan debt could be having an even greater impact on homeownership decisions for first-time home buyers, according to a new study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.