Good Morning! Today is Friday, February 18. A judge ruled that New York’s Attorney General can question Trump and two of his children under oath about his family business. Tesla accused regulators of harassing Elon Musk over his compliance with a 2018 regulatory settlement that sought to restrict his use of social media. Canadian police began arresting people protesting against Covid-19 mandates.
The Mortgage Note Reports
Rates Up Again: Mortgage rates jumped to 3.92% this week, their highest since May 2019, and are the result of “high inflation and stronger than expected consumer spending.”
Black Knight: Active forbearance plans rose by 11,500 plans (1.5%) last week, following a “typical pattern of mid-month restart activity.”
And in other mortgage and housing news…
First Mortgage Defaults: A record 57% of homes sold in two weeks and the typical monthly mortgage payment hit a new high at $1,997, Redfin found.
Housing Starts: Residential starts dropped 4.1% last month to a 1.64 million annualized rate as cold weather and labor shortages delay projects.
Records On Records: loanDepot founder and CEO Anthony Hsieh has bought 3.2 million shares of loanDepot class A common stock since November 2021.
Opportunity Zone: Median single-family home and condo prices rose from Q3 to Q4 2021 in 56% of Opportunity Zones around the country and spiked by at least 20% annually in almost half of the zones, ATTOM reported.
Seller Preferences:Zavvie’s Q4 2021 Seller Preferences Report found that iBuyers and “Power Buyers” had an explosive 2021.
ESR Predictions: Fannie’s ESR Group downgraded its expectations for 2022 real GDP growth from 3.1% to 2.8%.
Realogy CEO: Realogy has named Melissa McSherry as CEO.
STAR Recipients: Fannie Mae recognized 29 mortgage servicers for competency, capacity, and overall performance as part of its STAR Program.