News

Fannie Mae reported $2.8 billion both net and comprehensive income for the quarter, the exact amount of the dividend amount it expect to pay the Treasury Department in June. But that income for the quarter was nearly half what the GSE reported in Q4 of 2016.

Due to changes in securitization trends, rental property investors are shifting their acquisition efforts toward the Southeastern U.S. The region offers lower acquisition costs and more attractive yields, a new RMBS report found. In 2016, Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Indiana made up the bulk of investments.

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.

Arch Mortgage Insurance Company, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based private mortgage insurer, announced an integration with Lender Price, a California-based big data technology provider. Arch MI’s RateStar quotes will now be available through Lender Price.

Regions Bank, one of the top 20 U.S. banks, renewed its agreement to use LoanSphere MSP on its first mortgage loans and will also be converting home equity loans and lines over to LoanSphere MSP.

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.