Good Morning! Today is Monday, December 6. Former Senate Majority Leader and Republican Presidential Nominee Bob Dole died yesterday. He was 98 years old. Bitcoin recovered from a weekend crash that brought its value below $50,000. Omicron may have been spreading at a New York anime convention before cases were officially confirmed in the US.
And in mortgage and housing news…
Market-Crash Flashback?: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have raised their loan limits to nearly $1 million in some communities. Does that mean lenders are repeating the same mistakes which led to the 2008 crash?
Analysts React To Omicron: How will Omicron impact the housing market? Analysts are optimistic it won’t cause significant damage.
Zillow Bouncing Back: Zillow is recovering from its Offers shutdown as it buys back stock and sells off its backlog of inventory.
November Labor Report: Employers added 210,000 jobs to the economy in November, far fewer than expected, though nonbank mortgage providers did make slightly more profit than the month prior.
Evergrande Fears: Evergrande’s stock plummeted as it faces the end of another grace period and huge demands from creditors.
Fannie Breaking Records: Fannie Mae transferred $1.2 billion in risk on a pool of mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $30.7 billion last week, its largest ever.
Ban On “Gushing” Love Letters: An Oregon law will go into effect on January 1 banning real estate “love letters” from potential buyers on the grounds they can fuel discrimination.
“Slipping Away”: Despite advocates’ best efforts, no abandoned hotels in New York have been converted to housing, and the window of opportunity may be closing.
Better.com’s “Brutal” Layoffs: Better.com laid off 900 workers over a 15-minute Zoom call then immediately shut down their devices, accusing them of “stealing” by working two-hour days.