U.S. Housing Market Commentary

Posted by Brena Swanson on 3/27/13 at 9:40am

Student debt is not just on the rise, but it has a first-class seat on a rocket ship to the moon. And it's leaving behind the notion of first-time homebuying for overburdened post-graduates.

HousingWire has previously covered the significant rise in student debt, but new data from the latest National Consumer Credit Trends from Equifax reports that the...

Lending
Posted by Jacob Gaffney on 3/26/13 at 1:06pm

Two recent private residential-mortgage backed securitization platforms came to market last week. JPMorgan and Everbank will both market RMBS deals to investors.

While I don't view this as a revival of the market, it is...

Investments
Posted by Jacob Gaffney on 3/26/13 at 9:51am

Last week's testimony by Ed DeMarco, current acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, in front of the House Financial Service Committee touched a nerve with many, many people.

HousingWire reporter Christina Mlynski lead coverage of the events by writing about the protesters and lawmakers who were "firing off questions" to DeMarco. With so...

Servicing
Posted by Scott Goldstein on 3/25/13 at 1:45pm

In recent weeks we have seen a number of articles written about compliance, and about the risks of not following best practices and accepted audit and oversight guidance. Those articles point out, correctly, that the risk of noncompliance is significant, and that servicers are holding you accountable for your supply chain. As a result, there has been a flurry of activity across the industry to respond to new mandates and evolving third-party guidelines. Compliance is arguably more of an...

Servicing
Posted by Kerri Ann Panchuk on 3/25/13 at 12:04pm

There are two types of legal questions – those that are solved by bright-line rules created through code or court precedent. And those that linger without set-in stone standards, just waiting for a plaintiff’s attorney to take up the case and head to the courthouse hoping for a favorable ruling and possibly establishing precedent along the way.

In my experience, the mortgage space as of late is dominated by the...

Lending
Posted by Jim Carr on 3/25/13 at 8:29am

 Online Editor's Note:

Working at HousingWire puts two things into perspective. The first is the realization that housing will always be a critical part of the nation's economy. And the second, and perhaps most significant, is the recognition that the long path to getting housing back on track means listening to a variety of viewpoints and giving all sides of the conversation a chance to be heard.

In response to a recent article...

Lending
Posted by Brena Swanson on 3/22/13 at 9:58am

CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association David Stevens appeared live on CNBC Squawk Box Friday morning.

The video was geared to inform viewers about the housing market make-up this spring.

However, at the latter end of the 4 minute video the reporter nonchalantly asks Stevens, "Can we get rid of mortgage deductibility? W...

Lending
Posted by Jacob Gaffney on 3/21/13 at 10:28am

An interesting reaction on Twitter Thursday morning followed a strange trajectory into press reports.

First, the National Association of Realtors stated housing inventory posted this huge monthly leap, nearly 10%.

This was quickly followed by Trulia chief economist and VP of Analytics Jed Kolko commenting on the news.

Several mortgage finance reporters jumped on the latter...

Real Estate
Posted by Kerri Ann Panchuk on 3/20/13 at 4:02pm

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may catch a lot of flack for his full-speed ahead approach to mortgage-backed securities purchases and low interest rates, but no one can accuse ‘Bernie’ of being out-of-touch with the people, according to Forbes.

A reporter asked Ben Bernanke something rather personal Wednesday. Something along the lines of when was the last time he spoke to a person who is unemployed?

If reporters were looking for Bernanke to come...

Servicing
Posted by Jacob Gaffney on 3/20/13 at 10:04am

It's a monumental day for anyone involved in mortgage lending in England.

 

 

During the delivery of his 2013 budget to Parliament, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne revealed a sweeping mortgage stimulus package that is modeled after the Federal Housing Administration guarantee.

It's a major vote of confidence for the American model of housing finance, to see a notoriously difficult mortgage market, such as in England, help...

Lending