Jean Holman

Mortgage News

• The Forbearance Dilemma and the Proposed FNMA FHLMC Deferral Option

  Today we speak with NAMB President Rocke Andrews and Homebridge Financial Services CEO Peter Norden about “The Forbearance Dilemma and the Proposed FNMA FHLMC Deferral Option”

  The post The Forbearance Dilemma and the Proposed FNMA FHLMC Deferral Option appeared first on National Real Estate Post.

• Mortgage Apps Defy Coronavirus Woes and Post a 15% Increase

  Well this was a surprise. In a week when unemployment claims soared to the highest level in probably ever and several large states went into a COVID-19 induced lockdown, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced a significant increase in mortgage application volume. MBA's Market Composite Index, a measure of that volume, which had dropped like a rock (-29.4 percent) during the week ended March 20, bounced back by 15.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and 15.0 percent unadjusted during the week ended March 27. While application volume was up, purchase mortgage applications fell, down 11 percent from the previous week on an adjusted basis and 10 percent before adjustment. The unadjusted index was 24 percent below the same week in 2019. It was the largest drop in the Purchase Index in a non-holiday impacted week since at least 2013.

   

• Lessons From Great Recession Wall Street Buying Spree

  In an earlier article, (before more pressing issues shelved the topic) we summarized highlights from a recent New York Times Magazine article about the ownership of a large share of the nation's single-family rental stock by institutional investors. Part 1 recapped how private equity funds moved to purchase distressed single-family homes during the housing crises, turning it into rental stock. Their property management has been uneven, and tenants are suffering from significant financial abuses. The author, Francesca Mari, who tells much of the story through the eyes of Chad who is now renting the home he used to own, says the extent of the financial repercussions from Wall Street's investment are not limited to the rapid rent increases and unfettered fees we pointed to in the first article. The institutional owners are not always maintaining property, failing to make needed repairs, or making them as cheaply as possible. Some of the neglect has begun to manifest itself in health issues such as black mold induced allergies.