The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed a new mortgage product it hopes will give homeowners a way to tap into home equity without surrendering the low rates they locked in the last several years. The agency sent a notice of a proposed new product to the Federal Register, which would enable Freddie Mac to purchase single-family closed-end second mortgages.
The transition from a three credit report requirement to two reports — known as bi-merge credit reporting — for single-family loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has faced its share of obstacles. Another potential roadblock to this change was introduced last week.
In case you weren’t aware, 2024 is a presidential election year. That means the usual campaigning and debating is ramped up many times beyond the usual rhetoric of non-election years. Though not as prevalent as other political topics, the housing and mortgage industries are not immune from legislators and policymakers trying to score political points.
President Joe Biden made housing and mortgages a key topic in his State of the Union speech last week, proposing a number of tax credits and proposals to help create more supply and improve affordability. While the President’s housing proposals received mostly positive feedback, one idea met with resistance.
Mortgage and housing experts continue to raise their optimism about the industry in 2024. That includes Fannie Mae. The company’s Economic and Strategic Research Group said last week that existing home sales and single-family housing starts are expected to grow modestly in 2024 amid lower mortgage rates and strengthening homebuyer sentiment.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Scorecard Progress Report last week summarizing the 2018 activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The activities summarized in the report are designed to achieve FHFA’s three strategic goals as conservator of the two enterprises, which were established in 2014.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum last week that serves as a key step in lifting Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae out of government conservatorship. The President’s Memorandum on Federal Housing Finance Reform directs the Treasury Secretary to develop a plan for administrative and legislative reforms to achieve a number of housing reform goals.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Fannie Mae has lowered its forecast for home sales in the first half of 2019, while Freddie Mac expects modest growth in 2019 due to lower mortgage rates. In its March Outlook, the Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group wrote that it expects the market to rebound in the second half of the year.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released a pair of mortgagee letters earlier this month that remove a pair of regulations. The first communication announced the removal of the FHA Inspector Roster. FHA has deregulated the Inspector Roster requirements and will no longer keep an inspector roster.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Industry experts expect another strong year for the multifamily market. The latest multifamily forecast was released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Its 2019 Commercial/Multifamily Real Estate Finance Forecast projects that steady commercial real estate markets and equity and debt availability will keep commercial and multifamily mortgage originations on par with volumes of the past two years.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Fannie Mae has doubled the limit on multifamily small mortgage loans, from $3 million to $6 million. In addition, the limit in high-cost markets has been raised to $5 million. Fannie said in a statement that the loan size increase will simplify the small loan definition. It will also provide more opportunities for borrowers to realize the benefits of streamlined third-party report, underwriting, and asset management requirements.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Reform of the government-sponsored entities (GSEs) has been a hot topic since the new year began. Activity reached a peak earlier this month when it was reported that the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Joseph Otting, indicated that a plan to take the GSEs out of conservatorship was on the horizon.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has released guidelines to lenders and borrowers regarding the services available during the government shutdown. The federal government has been shut down for nearly a month. The impact has been felt in the housing and mortgage sector.
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The federal government shutdown that began just before Christmas is so far having a minimal impact on the mortgage industry. The National Association of Realtors surveyed its members on the shutdown’s impacts. Of the 2,211 members who responded, 75 percent said the shutdown had so far had no impact on their business.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released the 2019 Scorecard outlining conservatorship priorities for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and their joint venture, Common Securitization Solutions, LLC (CSS). The scorecard outlines expectations for Fannie and Freddie in the coming year and how they will be graded.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Written By: Stacey Sprain
As an FHA originator, processor or underwriter, it’s likely that in the ongoing foreclosure market you’ll run across a HUD REO loan at some point. The purpose of this multi-part article is to provide you with some useful information to help in your endeavors.