Good morning! Today is Friday, May 1. The United States is aiming to produce hundreds of millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by January. Amazon sales jumped as coronavirus quarantines sparked a surge in online shopping. After a peak in March, Americans are watching slightly less TV.
And in mortgage and housing news …
NIXING HELOCS: Wells Fargo joins JPMorgan Chase in backing off the loans known as HELOCs.
MORTGAGE RATES: Freddie Mac announced that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.23 percent, the lowest rate in the survey’s 50-year history.
GREATEST CHALLENGE: Freddie Mac CEO David Brickman said the housing market is “facing its greatest challenge in more than a decade” and that the impact of the coronavirus will be felt over the next year, at least.
FREDDIE MAC EARNINGS: Freddie Mac reported significantly lower earnings for the first quarter of the year as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic began to seep into the mortgage markets in March.
BUYING POTENTIAL: Home sellers are largely holding steady on prices, while buyers are expecting to find better deals amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a National Association of Realtors survey.
GUARANTEED RATE FINED: Mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million fine to resolve allegations it failed to properly and adequately underwrite federally backed loans, the Department of Justice announced.
OK, BOOMER: How an aging population will affect real estate technology.
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE: Why the commercial real estate market bubble is about to burst.
PANDEMIC HOUSE HUNT: A New York real estate agent offers advice to buyers looking for a home during the coronavirus pandemic.
MORTGAGE DELINQUENCY FORECAST: A recent modeling analysis looked at three different scenarios for mortgage delinquency based on how high the unemployment level rises.
HOUSING FINANCE DISTRESS: How one month nearly broke the housing ecosystem.