Tag Archives: Urban Institute

Driven by a a trend of increasing household equity, the total value of the residential housing market nationwide rose to $22.7 trillion as of the end of Q2 2015, according to the Urban Institute's Housing Finance at a Glance report for September 2015 released Friday.

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.

The new rule would limit the maximum period for filing insurance claims with the FHA, which would limit access to credit. In addition the rule would also change policies concerning curtailment of interest and disallowance of certain expenses incurred by servicers.

Overall, from 2010 to 2030, UI estimates there will be four million more renters than homeowners while the homeownership rate falls from 65.1 percent down to 61.3 percent during that 20-year period. In that time, 22 million new households will need homes to rent or buy; UI estimates that 13 million of those will rent while nine million will buy.

Currently their line of credit with Treasury would provide about 5 percent capitalization and the current guarantee fee of 63 basis points would provide about 3 percent; they would need to increase their G-fees by about 27 basis points to raise the additional 2 percent capital.

A hugely profitable year in 2013 for both Fannie Mae ($84 billion) and Freddie Mac ($49 billion) shifted widespread speculation from winding down the two GSEs to instead ending FHFA's conservatorship of the two Enterprises, which began in September 2008 after the two received a combined $188 billion from Treasury in bailout funds.

The mortgage market could have taken twice the default risk during the first three quarters of 2014 and remained well within the high standards set from 2001 to 2003, according to data released by the Urban Institute on Monday.

Foreclosure prevention counselors have saved homeowners millions of dollars annually, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute for NeighborWorks America.

The securities "would combine the best features of each of the current securities," such that "the security would have the superior pooling features of the current Fannie Mae securities and the superior disclosure features of the Freddie Mac securities," according to the Urban Institute.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA)Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a monthly gauge of credit access based on metrics and underwriting criteria from more than 85 lenders, increased 1.14 percent from April to May, reading 115.1 in the latest measure.