Tennessee now has more than seven million residents and a senior loan officer who works in the eastern half of the state says inventory and affordability issues have hit the communities he serves.
According to U.S. Census Bureau information, the population of Tennessee grew by 2% between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2022. The latest population estimate is that 7,051,339 people live in the Volunteer State, a nickname earned because of Tennessean’s eagerness to step forward in times of war.
Athens, the county seat of McMinn County, is located near the eastern border between the cities of Knoxville and Chattanooga.
The population in Athens has grown from 14,086 residents in April 2020 to 14,371 in July 2022 and data…
By PATRICK LAVERY
Incremental but persistent increases in the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy interest rate have now officially entered a second year, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announcing another quarter-percentage point hike on Wednesday.
The target rate is now 5.25%, up five full points since April 2022. Powell reiterated in his prepared remarks that the Fed’s objective is returning inflation to 2%, its historic target.
Unfortunately, Powell acknowledged, interest rates remain stubbornly high. Powell said that for the 12 months ending with this past March, total Personal Consumption Expenditures prices rose 4.2%, excluding food and energy prices which tend to be more volatile, while core PCE prices were up 4.6%.
“Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of…
Much has been made in recent weeks of loan level price adjustments made by the FHFA. Analysts have called the changes unfair, saying they subsidize borrowers with low credit scores by charging those with good credit more for their loans.
Finance officials from twenty-seven states sent a letter to President Biden him to stop this “unconscionable” policy, saying it would be a “disaster.”
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) called it “President Biden’s mortgage socialism rule” in a tweet and claimed borrowers with good credit scores would “see a spike in your borrowing costs” to fund mortgages for others. President Biden’s mortgage socialism rule went into effect yesterday. This means, if you have a high credit score (680+), and have a FHFA…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The new vice president of public policy at Rocket Central says his goal is to increase opportunities for people who have historically had difficulties achieving home ownership because of a host of barriers.
Karan Kaul, a housing finance veteran who worked as a principal research associate in the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute prior to joining Rocket, said that means focusing on first-time homebuyers, people of color, and low- to moderate-income borrowers.
In a recent interview with The Mortgage Note, Kaul said a well-documented hurdle to homeownership is a lack of an adequate down payment, especially with the increase in home prices over the last decade.
“So what can we do to make sure…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Leaders at JPMorgan Chase have announced they acquired the substantial majority of assets and assumed the deposits of First Republic Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
According to a press release issued on Monday, JPMorgan Chase will assume about $92 billion of deposits, including $30 billion of large bank deposits, to be repaid post-close or eliminated in consolidation.
The financial services firm, with operations worldwide, will acquire about $173 billion of loans and about $30 billion of securities, according to the press release.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said government officials invited them and others to step up and take over the troubled First Republic.
Shares of First Republic dropped on Friday and…
By BERTHA GARRETT
Across the United States, marijuana laws are being relaxed, and legal marijuana programs are being introduced. The ongoing legalization of marijuana has impacts on many areas of society, including the rental market, and it’s important for both landlords and tenants to be aware of the latest developments.
Impact of Marijuana Legalization on the Rental Market
Clearly, attitudes toward marijuana have changed a great deal in recent years. California has a great influence on the decision to legalize cannabis and led the way with its legalization, with many other states following the trend and others currently in the process of preparing their own plans to make marijuana and cannabis products more accessible.
When it comes to the rental…
The 30-year FRM increased once again last week, blocking even more homebuyers from entering the market.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.43%, up from 6.39% the week prior.
A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.11%.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell, however, down to 5.71% from 5.76%. A year ago, it averaged 4.40%.
“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased modestly for the second straight week, but with the rate of inflation decelerating rates should gently decline over the course of 2023,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“Incoming data suggest the housing market has stabilized from a sales and house price perspective. The prospect of lower mortgage rates for the…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Advocacy Conference shared concerns about housing affordability, trigger leads, and changes to the loan-level price adjustment matrix.
The conference was held last week at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC. MBA members learned about the political and market landscapes on Tuesday before speaking with their elected state representatives on Wednesday. Over 300 members from 39 states participated in those Capitol Hill meetings.
Kellie Allen, vice president of production at Synergy One Lending, was at the conference representing Idaho Mortgage Lenders Association. She was looking forward to talking about the challenges members of her association are facing.
“Affordable housing is a huge one, of course, and then one of the big…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Mortgage originations are expected to decline in 2023 as market factors continue to present challenges for those in the industry.
Michael Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s chief economist and senior vice president of research and industry technology, said during a session at the National Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC, this week that after the whirlwind of 2020 and 2021, the residential slowdown which started in 2022 will continue through this year.
“This has been an extraordinarily tough couple of years for mortgage lenders. Origination volume dropped 50% from ’21 to ’22,” Fratantoni said. “We’re forecasting another 20% decline in 2023 to a level of about $1.8 trillion.”
Although the recent banking market uncertainty has not helped, Fratantoni…
Recent bank failures have created another problem for the housing market: lack of credit.
First American’s Potential Home Sales Model– a measure of what a healthy level of home sales should be based on market fundamentals– fell by 2.5% month-over-month in March. Year-over-year, it is down 10.7%, a loss of more than 640,000 sales.
The biggest contributor to the decline was tightening credit standards, First American says. At the beginning of the pandemic, lenders reduced credit due to the increased likelihood of forbearance and delinquency, but it slowly began to ease.
Now, credit is tightening again thanks to banking uncertainty.
“There are fears that the recent bank failures will prompt lenders to be much more conservative with their lending,” said…
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