FHFA announced the suspension of the caps on the GSEs’ purchase of second-home and investor-property mortgages on Sept. 14. By Sept. 15, the price of these loans jumped more than a percentage point.
Looking at more than 12 million home appraisals, researchers found that sellers in minority census tracts were more than twice as likely to receive an appraisal below the sale price than sellers in white districts.
The mortgage industry’s warnings that the restrictions placed on the GSEs would tighten credit availability for less qualified borrowers were not lost on the Biden administration.
The support of the powerful House Financial Services Committee chair improves the chances that FHFA Acting Director Sandra Thompson’s job becomes permanent. It also casts doubt on the rumored nomination of CRL President Mike Calhoun.