Government

The economy added 236,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 160,000, and that the unemployment rate would drop to 7.8 percent. Job growth for December, originally reported at 196,000, was revised upward to 219,000, while January was revised down to 119,000 from the originally reported 157,000. One concern from the report was the number of multiple jobholders, which increased 340,000. This means new jobs went to an individual already employed, making the decline in the unemployment rate even more significant.

Initial unemployment insurance claims fell 7,000 for the week ending March 2, closing the week at an advance estimate of 340,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The decline represents the fourth drop in the last five weeks, indicating a downward trend in layoffs.

In Fannie Mae's most recent housing survey, consumers maintained their optimism toward home prices, while the share of consumers who said now is a good time to sell reached a record high. However, consumers in the survey were less optimistic about the economy and their own financial situation. Nearly half, or 48 percent, of respondents in the February survey said they expect home prices to rise in the next 12 months. At the same time, 25 percent also believe now is a good time to sell, the highest level since the survey's June 2010 inception.

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey indicated little to no movement in fixed rates for the week ending March 7. According to Freddie Mac's readings, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.52 percent (0.7 point) this week, up slightly from the previous 3.51 percent average. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.88 percent. Meanwhile, Bankrate.com reported no movement in any of its three major metrics, with all of them reading the same as last week.

In an article released March 3, Edward Pinto and Peter Wallison, two fellows at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), assert that the QM rule is ""simply another and more direct way for the government to keep mortgage underwriting standards low."" While the two authors acknowledge that the rule's provisions--described by them as ""draconian""--would ""probably have addressed the problem of low underwriting standards,"" they say the lack of down payment or credit history requirements doom it to failure.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward DeMarco released his 2013 priorities for the GSEs Monday. DeMarco anticipates the gradual reduction of the GSEs' presence in the market, and this year's goals largely build on last year's. ""Despite some signs of normalization in the housing market, our Nation finds itself in the uncomfortable position of having over 90 percent of new mortgage originations supported by the Federal government,"" DeMarco said. As such, FHFA's goals for this year expand on last year's three main goals of building an infrastructure for the future of the secondary market, contracting the GSEs' role in the market, and maintaining the GSEs' foreclosure prevention and credit availability efforts.

In recognition of National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto released a list of the top five most common mortgage fraud consumer complaints addressed by the state's Mortgage Fraud Unit (MFU). In 2012, complaints related to loan modification and loss mitigation issues were No. 1.

As the private sector struggles with regulatory uncertainty, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue to maintain their dominant role in the housing market, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. Since the GSEs act as key players in the market's fragile recovery, political motivation for far-reaching GSE reform has been limited, the rating agency explained. Although regulators and politicians have emphasized the need for the private sector capital to enter the mortgage market, Fitch said ""results have been disappointing.""

Mortgage debt for U.S. households was roughly unchanged quarter-over-quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Household Debt and Credit report. Mortgage debt stood at $8.03 trillion in Q4, making up the largest component of household debt. At the same time, overall consumer debt increased by $31 billion to $11.34 trillion, a slight 0.3 percent increase from the third quarter.

The sad fact of the budget sequestration being played out in Washington is how avoidable it was. The sadder fact is that however temporary it might prove to be--and that appears from a distance to be more of a wish than a forecast--it will affect real people, and not well. The effects of sequestration go beyond the impact of jobs loss because defense or other contractors are not hired or because federal workers are furloughed. The effects will put even more homeowners at risk of delinquency, or worse, foreclosure, just at a time when the housing sector is recovering.