A new bill seeks to require FHFA to create a public database of information on all mortgage appraisals. The proposal comes as the Trump administration disbanded the Biden-era task force created to address appraisal bias.
The Mortgage Bankers Association has suggested the FHFA end its tri-merge process, replacing it with a single credit report rather than the bi-merge model as currently planned.
Is the White House being less than forthcoming about job cuts at HUD and DOGE finding “misplaced” funds at the agency? You decide. But mortgage bankers are getting nervous.
For hours, it was unclear whether a White House memo freezing federal funding would impact mortgage programs. In the meantime, government agencies announced that their single-family mortgage programs were unaffected by the planned funding pause.
The Trump administration will likely take starkly different positions on housing and the mortgage market compared with the Biden administration. Expect changes at the GSEs, while a reduction to FHA mortgage insurance premiums looks unlikely.
Purchase mortgages and refis increased across the board in the agency MBS market in the third quarter, with the strongest growth seen in refis that carried primary mortgage insurance. (Includes three data tables.)