Wed, Feb 2 2011, 1:37 PM
HUD's definition of Worst Case Housing Needs (WCN):
unassisted very low-income renters who either (1) pay more than one-half
of their monthly i...
Tue, Feb 1 2011, 12:46 PM
The U.S.
Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have jointly issued
the January Housing Scorecard . The Scorecard is ...
Tue, Feb 1 2011, 3:24 PM
The Federal Reserve Bank periodically conducts a survey among
senior loan officers at major banks on current lending practices. There are
generally ...
Tue, Feb 1 2011, 1:20 PM
Considerable uncertainty surrounds the recently postponed issuance of
the mortgage securitization regulations required by the Dodd-Frank Act
(DFA)...
Mon, Jan 31 2011, 11:09 AM
President Obama gave the State of the Union Address last Tuesday. You either loved it or hated it.
Supporters
say he inspired a feeling of ...
Mon, Jan 31 2011, 3:10 PM
The Census Bureau has released its survey of Residential
Vacancies and Homeownership for the fourth quarter of 2010.
Homeowner Vacany an...
Fri, Jan 28 2011, 10:42 AM
This week we discussed the outlook for home prices and shared
perspective on whether or not now is a good time to buy. This is the
best guidance w...
Thu, Jan 27 2011, 11:13 AM
Pending home sales improved further in December, marking the fifth gain
in the past six months, according to the National Association of
Realtors®...
Thu, Jan 27 2011, 2:43 PM
Another party, this time from the progressive side of the
debate, has chimed in with its prescription for reforming the nation's housing
finance sys...
Wed, Jan 26 2011, 12:05 PM
Month over month gains look large relative to recent months. This is a positive from a "here and now" perspective. But when we zoom out and see the bi...
Wed, Jan 26 2011, 9:49 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 21, 2011. The Market Compos...
Wed, Jan 26 2011, 9:40 AM
Moody's believes that major reforms are unlikely to be adopted until after the 2012 presidential election and that it is likely changes will be phased...
Wed, Jan 26 2011, 3:31 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association has a full plate of legislative priorities for 2011. Chief among these is influencing the hundreds of regulations ar...
Tue, Jan 25 2011, 3:38 PM
November figures released by Case Shiller show a pattern of decreasing growth in home prices. A spokesman for Standard &Poor's said that a double-dip...
Mon, Jan 24 2011, 12:58 PM
Not too many folks disagree with calls for much needed GSE Reform, but there is a disparity among the urgency of these outcries.
Mon, Jan 24 2011, 4:04 PM
The American Enterprise Institute has come forward with its proposal for reforming the housing finance system which advocates taking the government to...
Fri, Jan 21 2011, 11:55 AM
Two academics have suggested an alternative mortgage designed to cut strategic defaults by allowing for the periodic readjustment of the mortgage bala...
Thu, Jan 20 2011, 11:37 AM
HUD has announced $1.4 billion in grants for homelessness programs in all 50 states. The grants, destined for over 6700 programs, are are all continu...
Thu, Jan 20 2011, 2:17 PM
Existing-home sales rose sharply in December, when sales increased for the fifth time in the past six months, according to the National Association of...
Wed, Jan 19 2011, 11:34 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have released New Residential Construction statistics for December 2010.
Wed, Jan 19 2011, 11:29 AM
FDIC Chairman Sheila Barr addressed a summit on mortgage servicing and called for strengthening the oversight of servicers and changes to their incent...
Wed, Jan 19 2011, 11:12 AM
The Federal Reserve is alerting consumers about new forms lenders may be required to provide that explain credit scoring and how it impacted their loa...
Wed, Jan 19 2011, 10:30 AM
"Mortgage rates have moved somewhat lower since the beginning of the year, as mixed data on the job market continue to cloud the outlook for the econo...
Tue, Jan 18 2011, 12:49 PM
"As we emerge from the traditionally slow holiday season, builders continue to look for signs of improvement in the economy, home buyer demand and bui...
Tue, Jan 18 2011, 9:20 AM
The Association of Mortgage Investors, in a White Paper published Wednesday, is asking the 50 state Attorneys General to take a look at loan servicing...
Tue, Jan 18 2011, 2:36 PM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Tuesday that it has instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to study possible alternatives to the cu...
Fri, Jan 14 2011, 12:34 PM
Researchers have found that policies which encourage the availability of affordable housing, either through building or rehabbing units or through ass...
Thu, Jan 13 2011, 9:21 AM
A record number of properties, close to 3 million, were the subject of foreclosure filings in 2010 according to figures released on Thursday by Realty...
Wed, Jan 12 2011, 12:59 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association has filed suit against the Department of Labor seeking a reversal of an administrative ruling that mortgage loan offi...
Wed, Jan 12 2011, 11:22 AM
Today Mark Greene, the CEO of FICO and creator of the model address a few misconceptions about his model....
Wed, Jan 12 2011, 9:37 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 7, 2011. The MBA's loan app...
Tue, Jan 11 2011, 2:43 PM
While there is not evidence that major U.S. cities will fade into oblivion because of the economic downturn, a new MBA study looks as the possibility ...
Mon, Jan 10 2011, 12:24 PM
Few factors affect the mortgage lending process as much as a borrower's credit score.
Fri, Jan 7 2011, 3:55 PM
At issue are rules dictating which loans should be exempt from the law's so-called risk-retention requirement, which says issuers of mortgage-backed s...
Thu, Jan 6 2011, 9:58 AM
While I cannot argue with big bank haters who point toward underlying "greed" as the prime motivation for sloppy lending decisions, I must ask, were t...
Thu, Jan 6 2011, 1:54 PM
Today we must act again to transform our cities. Distressed properties are a drag on our communities and the economy and threaten to topple even more ...
Wed, Jan 5 2011, 3:53 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the weeks ending December 24, 2010 and December 31, ...
Tue, Jan 4 2011, 3:41 PM
Of course news that Bank of America had settled GSE repurchase claims on loans written by Countrywide (for pennies on the dollar) brought out a chorus...
Mon, Jan 3 2011, 4:18 PM
Residential construction spending includes remodeling, additions, and major replacements to owner occupied properties subsequent to completion of orig...
Mon, Jan 3 2011, 3:16 PM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has approved agreements reached by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the Enterprises) with Ally and Bank of Americ...
Thu, Dec 30 2010, 11:13 AM
A lot of IF's need to play out just to see a GRADUAL housing recovery. Oh well. We gotta start somewhere.
Wed, Dec 29 2010, 11:38 AM
HUD has announced the award of $73 million in funds for housing counseling. This is a 22 percent increase over the funds that were available last ye...
Tue, Dec 28 2010, 9:18 AM
David Blitzer summed up the October data with this statement, “The double-dip is almost here, as six cities set new lows for the period since the 2006...
Tue, Dec 28 2010, 2:41 PM
FHFA is proposing revisions to the membership provisions to "reinforce the connection between membership and support for residential housing finance" ...
Mon, Dec 27 2010, 11:21 AM
The Federal Home Finance Agency FHFA) has issued the final rules for the three financial entities it oversees and an advance notice of proposed rulema...
Thu, Dec 23 2010, 11:34 AM
New Home Sales rose to an annualized rate of 290,000. This is better than the previous month (275,000) but a bit short of the consensus of 300,000. ...
Thu, Dec 23 2010, 11:22 AM
The Federal Reserve has posted changes to its September Interim Rule making changes to Regulation Z and the Truth in Lending Act. The newest modifica...
Wed, Dec 22 2010, 12:06 PM
Existing-home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July, according to the National Association of ...
Wed, Dec 22 2010, 12:01 PM
Fannie Mae's economists expect matters to improve only slightly in 2011. Sales of homes are projected to increase 4.9 percent over the year but price...
Wed, Dec 22 2010, 10:25 AM
"Refinance application volume dropped sharply this week as mortgage rates held near six month highs," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of...
