On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will host a webinar [1] on the impact of COVID-19 on homeownership. The webcast, titled "Supporting Homeownership: An Interagency Discussion Regarding the COVID-19 National Emergency for National Homeownership Month." The webcast will cover the FHA's, and the Departments of Agriculture's (USDA), and Veterans Affairs' (VA) responses to the COVID-19 National Emergency.
Speakers include the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Deputy Secretary Brian Montgomery, Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Len Wolfson, and other senior leaders from FHA, USDA, and VA.
A new white paper published by Altisource, “Navigating the Challenges of COVID-19, Now and in the Future [2],” discusses the future of the mortgage industry once the pandemic passes.
“Mortgage companies began scrambling to operationalize in a rapidly evolving and unexpected environment that no one was fully prepared for,” Altisource said in the white paper. “As with the 2008 housing crisis, our industry was too tightly interconnected that it didn’t take long for a domino effect to ripple throughout the community and impact every corner of it.”
In May, the housing and mortgage industries faced historic levels of unemployment claims—surpassing 30 million in June—falling home sales and interest rates, and forbearance plans that are impacting cash flow for mortgage servicers.
The analysis in this white paper stemmed from Altisource’s Mortgage Industry Pandemic Summit, in partnership with Five Star Global. Altisource’s CEO Bill Shepro said in the white paper that there was “no amount of preparation” that could have prepared the mortgage industry for COVID-19.
Here's what else is happening in The Week Ahead:
- U.S. Census Bureau Housing Starts and Permits (Wednesday)
- NAHB Home Builders Index (Tuesday)