Daily Dose

A new report by Trulia says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proven a powerful ally to borrowers across the economic spectrum. It’s also proven a valuable resource for military service members and older Americans. And taking it away could be more trouble than its worth.

The number of prime jumbo RMBS transactions has doubled year-over-year, according to a new report. Six new transactions were completed in Q1 2017, totaling $2.6 billion. Only 29 out of about 50,000 loans are currently delinquent.

According to the latest Consent Order from the New York Department of Financial Services, Ocwen may be one its way to once again acquiring mortgage servicing rights. The financial institution has been blocked from doing so for more than three years, since NYDFS began investigating its portfolio in February 2014. Ocwen is one of the country’s largest non-bank lenders.

mortgage default rates are up one basis point from February to .75 percent, a one-year high. Year-over-year, the mortgage default rate dropped from .77 percent, while the bank card default rate increased year over year. Of the five major cities covered by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices (New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami), New York and Chicago posted month-over-month increases in the Index level, while Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami posted month-over-month decreases in defaults.

A new index shows the GSEs are expanding their credit boxes and taking more risk, making it easier for consumers to get a mortgage loan. Government, portfolio, and private-label security channels are not expanding the box, however, and are actually decreasing the amount of risk they take in lending. Though overall mortgage credit availability is largely stable, there is still much room to expand the credit box—particularly in these more stringent markets.

Single-family starts fell six percent in March, to an annual rate of 821,000 from February’s rate of 875,000, which was the fastest monthly rate since the Great Recession. However, single-family permits posted the third largest annual pace since the recession. Permits in March grew 3.6 percent to 1.26 million from February’s 1.216 million, and grew year-over-year by 17 percent.

Q1 was good to Bank of America, which posted a 40 percent increase in overall net income. Loan revenues, too, were up, as was consumer and global banking. But total mortgage was down compared to a year ago, as were average loans and leases.

Two federal banks are forecasting a slowdown in GDP growth this quarter, with the Atlanta Fed predicting it to hit its lowest point in three years. The drop is a result of reduced consumer spending, the Fed reported. Predicted GDP growth has decreased significantly since the start of the year.

According to former Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass), the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would be “very unpopular.” Rather than eliminate the bureau, he hopes that for legislation will be introduced to make minor changes to Dodd-Frank "that make it easier for the smaller and middle-sized banks without weakening the rules against great losses that people can't deal with."

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo reported a solid market for new single-family homes in the April NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). NAHB reports that there is a continuing demand for home construction, although builders have faced several challenges such as high regulatory costs and increasing material prices.