A new analysis shows that housing markets where FHA loan limits were reduced this year have seen a bigger drop in FHA business than elsewhere in the country.
Jeff Mezger, president and CEO of KB Home, said the first-timer share of home purchases is rising due to increased employment, noting cities in Texas as an example.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun: “The way they have raised premiums and fees – the way I view it and what I hear from Realtors – is essentially they are ripping off consumers. It’s almost as if HUD needs to be turned over to the CFPB to be investigated"...
The White House isn’t quite ready to pack it in on housing finance reform legislation this year, at least in the Senate, even as policymakers look ahead to take up the issue anew next year, say industry observers. The industry at large has all but written off the prospects of advancing a GSE reform bill in the 113th Congress following the bare minimum passage out of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee of S. 1217 by the committee’s chairman and ranking member Sens. Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Mike Crapo, R-ID.
A Fannie Mae real estate-owned contractor engaged in a “clear pattern” of neglecting Fannie-owned vacant foreclosed homes in black and latino neighborhoods compared to white neighborhoods in four different cities, according to a discrimination complaint filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development this week. The National Fair Housing Alliance and two partners allege that Brandon, FL-based Cyprexx Services violated the federal Fair Housing Act by neglecting minority-owned Fannie REOs.
Reform legislation rolled out earlier this month by House Democrats that would phase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of business while dramatically expanding Ginnie Mae’s role in the market has been positively received within the industry, but room for improvement remains. The Partnership to Strengthen Homeownership Act, H.R. 5055, sponsored by House Democrats John Delaney (MD), John Carney (DE) and Jim Himes (CT), has zero chance of gaining traction this year. However, the lawmakers said they are playing the long game with their bill, looking ahead to the GSE reform debate in the 114th Congress.
Second-quarter bank earnings reports show a strong increase in overall mortgage banking profitability as new origination volume rebounded from historic lows set in the first three months of 2014. A new Inside Mortgage Trends review of earnings reports from 21 banks, including eight of the 10 largest banks in mortgage lending, reveals that the group generated $3.81 billion in second-quarter mortgage banking income. That was up 31.5 percent from ...
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