Ben Carson, who is expected to be confirmed soon as the next secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said he’s looking for an experienced mortgage professional to guide the FHA program during his tenure. In recent years, the top FHA job has been held by people with more experience in government than in the mortgage business. The last industry veteran in the post was Dave Stevens, who brought years of mortgage finance experience when he took the job in the first Obama administration. He left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. In response to written questions from Senate Democrats, Carson said...
In a new annual letter to shareholders, Fairholme Capital Management once again lays out its argument for investing in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock, trying to explain to its wealthy investors that it feels more secure in owning junior preferred shares than common stock. Among other things, Fairholme said the preferred stock “provide(s) us with greater security and certainty than the common stock and, as you know, we are not speculators.” When it comes to a liquidation preference, preferred shareholders are senior to common shareholders, who often receive nothing when a company goes bust. But Fairholme’s problem – one shared by other firms that still own this class of stock – is...
Home prices in 2016 soared as a number of metropolitan areas reached record new home price highs, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ yearend report on home sales. Among 201 metropolitan statistical areas with populations of at least 200,000, 44 percent hit new all-time home price peaks last year. Those areas include Dallas-Fort Worth ($230,571), Houston ($214,795), Atlanta ($181,000), Boston ($390,000) and San Francisco ($720,000). Three Ohio markets, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, also reached...
A number of factors – including misconceptions – are preventing some potential homebuyers from pursuing purchase mortgages, according to the National Association of Realtors. The trade group said it has found “real and imaginary barriers holding back prospective homebuyers.” The so-called imaginary barriers involve potential borrowers’ perceptions about downpayment requirements. “Apparent confusion about downpayment requirements may be...
The CFPB said Prospect Mortgage entered into agreements to buy leads from more than 200 different counterparties, most of which were real estate brokers.
The DTAs are available to the GSEs as future deductions against taxable income. A reduction in the corporate tax rate would reduce existing DTAs for not just Fannie and Freddie but for other U.S. businesses as well.
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