Market Studies

Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group found that consumer spending and other solid domestic fundamentals are predicted to be key drivers of the rest of the year economic growth.

The national aggregate value of negative equity at the end of Q2 was approximately $309.5 billion, which was a decline from $338 billion at the end of Q1 and from $350 billion year-over-year (11.6 percent), according to CoreLogic.

The mortgage industry has recognized the growing popularity of the single-family rental market. This week at the 2015 Five Star Conference and Expo in Dallas will include the inaugural Single-Family Rental Lab, and Five Star will host the inaugural Single-Family Rental Summit in Las Vegas from October 11 to 13.

Daniel Carroll, an economist with the Cleveland Fed, and Eric Young, a professor at the University of Virginia, contend in their commentary titled "Zero Growth and Long Run Inequality" that "to the extent that different rates of trend growth are associated with changes in wealth inequality, lower growth tends to yield less inequality rather than more."

During the housing crash, big investors stocked up on thousands of foreclosed properties for single-family rentals with intentions of selling them when home prices recovered. But they didn’t.

The problem is not that investors are not willing to take the risk; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have transferred risk on $667 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB) through a combined total of 22 Connecticut Avenue Series (CAS) and Structured Agency Credit Risk (STACR) transactions since 2013.

Millennials or generation Y (age 35 and under), which is the demographic many analysts have said will be critical for the future health of the housing market, comprised 32 percent of all buyers – the largest share of homebuyers for any age group.

Earnings for the U.S. banking industry totaled a record 43 billion dollars during Q2 2015, a 7 percent year-over-year increase. Regional and community banks reported significantly higher earnings than larger banks during Q2, which is consistent with past periods.

The index found that 63 percent of respondents indicated that now is a good time to buy a home, up 2 percentage points from last month, while 47 percent said that now is good time to sell a home and 44 percent say it's a bad time.

Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) originated during the housing bubble years of 2005 to 2007 have either reached or will soon reach their 10-year "end of draw" period, at which point borrowers will face a payment shock that may cause delinquency rates among HELOCs to rise substantially.