Tag Archives: HOUSING

This Friday, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester will be speaking at The Policy Summit on Housing, Human Capital, and Inequality: Transforming Regional Economies—Growth and Equity through Policy and Practice. The Summit is focusing on economic growth during the continued recovery after the Great Recession. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, it is important to understand how economic growth can more equitably benefit low- and moderate-income individuals and communities. Mester will be doing the closing address at the Policy Summit.

According to a new report issued on Friday, home price appreciation rates are disparate between the nation’s most and least expensive cities—and that gap is only widening. While 16 percent of U.S. markets have seen housing prices jump 40 percent since the year 2000, another 30 percent of cities actually saw prices decline over the same period. Despite the discrepancy, nominal prices rose in 97 out of the nation’s 100 biggest metro areas last year due to high demand and tightening supply. As a result, affordability is on the downslope across the nation; an estimated 19 million households spent more than half of their income on housing.

A Connecticut jury found a former Nomura executive guilty on one conspiracy charge on Thursday for allegedly tacking on secret commission fees to RMBS transactions he handled between 2009 and 2013. Two other Nomura employees were also named in the suit, which was filed by the state in September 2015. In addition to one conspiracy charge each, the trio was also charged with two counts of securities fraud and six counts of wire fraud a piece. The jury was hung on three counts, and the defendants were found not guilty on the additional charges.

As housing inventory continues to tighten, would-be homeowners are being driven toward renting—and the apartment market is struggling to keep up. According to a new study, the U.S. will need 4.6 million new apartments by 2030 in order to keep up with demand—or 325,000 every year. About 1 million new renter households were formed every year over the last five years. This steep jump is caused, in large part, by consumers delaying housing purchases. Aging and changes in consumer sentiment have also played a role, according to experts.

A memo from Attorney General Jeff Sessions has revealed a policy change at the U.S. Department of Justice: DOJ attorneys can no longer send settlement money to community groups or third-party vendors not directly harmed by the defendant in question. The practice had become common under the Obama administration, as prosecutors tacked on additional settlement costs to fund groups fighting community blight and serving other mortgage-related purposes across the nation. Critics of the practice called it a “slush fund” for promoting partisan political goals.

HSBC has fulfilled its obligations under the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), according to a compliance report released on Wednesday. The report is the second of its kind released on the bank since February of last year, when HSBC initially agreed to a $601 million settlement with several federal agencies and U.S. states regarding questionable servicing and foreclosure practices. Today’s report revealed HSBC has now met all requirements outlined in that February 2016 settlement.

A new study shows that consumers located in lower-income areas are more likely to establish credit history through negative means, like debt collection, than those in higher-income areas. While 27 percent of low-income area consumers establish their history through what are called “nonloans,” just 7.9 percent of consumers in high-income areas establish credit via these non-loans. The study also found the percentage of Americans who became credit visible due to student loans more than doubled over the last decade.

Monday Pamela Patenaude appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for her nomination hearing for Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Patenaude believes her history as the Assistant Deputy will set her up well for this position, if confirmed. The rumors of the intent to nominate Joseph Otting for the Comptroller of the Currency were also confirmed recently in a statement from President Trump.

The real estate appraisal process has long been bemoaned as slow, inefficient, and more advantageous to cash buyers, but according to appraisal experts at a recent panel discussion, there are ways to change that. Among them? Streamlining the process, reevaluating professional requirements, and adopting new technologies. Data shows that the number of licensed appraisers has dropped significantly over the last decade, due to volatility in the industry. Changing up licensing requirements could alleviate this issue.

Fitch Ratings has opted to keep Ocwen Financial Corporation’s ratings as-is—both on its servicing and its bonds—despite the servicer’s recent MSR sale. Announced last month, Ocwen will sell its mortgage servicing rights, along with $117 billion in unpaid principal balance, and become a sub-servicer of New Residential Investment Corporation. Regardless of the sale, Fitch has announced Ocwen will keep its “Negative” residential primary servicer rating.