Daily Dose

If history is our guide, SFR is going to take its place alongside the other real estate food groups, most notably multi-family housing, and become a largely institution-owned asset class. The stage is set and the path has been cleared, so what is happening now, and next?

Friday’s employment report for April from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed strong growth overall, with a total increase in non-farm payroll jobs of 211,000, compared to March’s increase of 79,000. Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta tweeted that the report was “great news,” and noted the unemployment drop to 4.4 percent. However, differing opinions came from those in the mortgage and housing industry.

On Thursday, VantageScore Solutions, LLC and TransUnion released the VantageScore Default Risk Index (DRI) for Q4 2016. According to the DRI, when it comes to default risk, mortgages pose a lower threat than auto loans, student loans, and bankcards with the DRI for these four categories came in at 85.4 (mortgage) , 89.3 (auto), 90.0 (student loans), and 96.8 (bankcards) respectively. Despite the lower default risk compared to other debt categories, mortgage risk is up quarter-over-quarter.

The National Association of Homebuilders’ 55+ Housing Market Index revealed for Q1 2017 revealed a 12 point drop from Q4 2016, but the senior housing market is still in a strong area. Present sales fell 12 points to 62, expected sales fell seven points to 68, and prospective buyer traffic decreased 15 points to 34.

After allegedly selling toxic residential mortgage-backed securities which led to the failure of three credit unions, Credit Suisse Securities has agreed to pay $400 million in a settlement on Wednesday. The National Credit Union Administration settled with Credit Suisse, ending a litigation that has lasted nearly five years. The NCUA filed a motion for voluntary dismissal in Kansas federal court on Tuesday.

Currently, the Bureau is seeking comment from consumers, consumer advocates, housing counselors, mortgage loan servicers, industry representatives, and the general public regarding the RESPA mortgage servicing rule, and will issue a report of their assessment by January 2019. The rule, introduced in January 2013 and which took effect in January 2014, was designed to assist consumers who were behind on mortgage payments. Among other things, the RESPA mortgage servicing rule requires servicers to follow certain procedures related to loss mitigation applications and communications with borrowers.

Despite a contentious hearing earlier this week, today, the House Financial Services Committee voted to advance H.R. 10, or the Financial CHOICE Act, to a full House vote. The CHOICE Act, which was proposed by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) as a replacement for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Today's vote followed party lines, with the final vote coming down to 34 to 26.

The number of seriously underwater properties is on the decline, according to a recent home equity report. Approximately 5.5 million U.S. homes were seriously underwater for the quarter—a drop from last year’s 6.7 million. As a percentage of all mortgages, seriously underwater loans also dropped, accounting for 9.7 percent of all loans versus the 12 percent of Q1 2016.

The Federal Open Market Committee opted to keep the federal funds rate as-is during its May meeting. The FOMC raised the rate in March from 0.75 to 1 percent. It was largely expected that the FOMC would raise rates at least two more times over the course of 2017.

The CFPB attempted to block Ocwen’s expediting attempt by telling a Florida federal court to deny Ocwen’s attempt at fast-tracking its constitutional challenge against the agency’s structure. Ocwen had previously stated its opinion of the CFPB’s structure, saying in a release that it “believes that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured, because it vests too much unfettered power in the hands of the CFPB’s Director and the Bureau itself, without any meaningful oversight by the President or Congress”