Morning Roundup (2/22/2022)– Rental rates, NJ Foreclosure Funding

Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, February 22. In a speech, Putin laid claim to Ukraine as a country “created by Russia.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted all restrictions in England and announced an end to most free testing. A Biden administration plan to reduce drug deaths will include clean-needle exchanges.


The Mortgage Note Reports


Rental Rates Up By More Than 15%, Adding To Inflation: Monthly asking rates for rentals increased 15.2% year-over-year in January, and some economists say this is accounting for a significant portion of recent inflation.


Foreclosures In New Jersey: $10 Million Set Aside To Help: State officials in New Jersey will use $10 million in federal funding to purchase mortgage notes of homes on the verge of foreclosure to stem the loss of single-family houses to rental property investment firms.


MBA: Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell 12.5% year-over-year in January 2022 but were up 10% from December 2021.


It’s Coming:Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman suggested March may bring a half-point rate hike, but economists don’t agree if it’s the best move.

And in other mortgage and housing news…


FirstAm: First American’s January Potential Home Sales Model found potential existing-home sales fell by 0.9% month-over-month but was up 80.9% from the market potential low point reached in February 1993.


Ending The Boys’ Club Mentality: The mortgage industry is “due for its own reckoning” over toxic masculinity, Courtney Mattison argues.


UMortgage:Are UWM and Anthony Cases colluding to compete with loan officers?


New Listings Down: Seasonally adjusted new listings fell 12.4% in January to a record low, but demand persisted, pushing sales up 7.5%.


Photography Day: A HomeJab study found that Wednesday is the most popular day of the week for real estate photographers to take photos for a new property listing.


“What You Can Afford Has Changed”: Spokane, WA was supposed to be the Next Affordable City, but it’s already too expensive, the New York Times reports.


Reeling From A Crash: China’s four biggest banks lowered mortgage rates in Guangzhou city by 20 basis points on Monday.