Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, February 8. The Supreme Court reinstated Alabama’s congressional map, which a lower court had said hurts Black voters. Vladimir Putin met with President Emmanuel Macron of France but did not rule out a Ukraine invasion. The budget airlines Frontier and Spirit plan to merge.
The Mortgage Note Reports
UWM Sues Brokerage in Effort to Enforce its ‘Anti-American’ Restrictions on Lenders. UWM’s Mat Ishbia is defending his company’s decision to slap America’s Moneyline with a $2.8 million lawsuit over its decision to violate UWM’s restrictions on working with Rocket and Fairway Independent. AML’s Shawn Nevin calls it ‘anti-American.’
$53 Million Agreement With Fannie Mae To Help Rebuild Communities Of Color In Metro Areas: Fair housing organizations throughout the country have reached a landmark $53 million agreement to resolve claims that Fannie Mae treated homes it owned in majority-Black and Latino communities unfavorably.
Affordability Challenges Push Housing Sentiment Down: Fannie Mae’s HPSI saw its “Good Time To Buy” measure hit an all-time low, driven by particularly pessimistic younger households.
Black Knight’s Mortgage Monitor: Homeowners gained $2.6 trillion in equity in 2021, a record high, while home prices reversed course, skyrocketing at the end of the year after showing signs of moderation in mid-summer.
And in other mortgage and housing news…
Double Trouble: NAR Research and Realtor.com partnered to do an analysis of affordability at different income levels for all active inventory on the market as buyers face rising prices and stock shortages.
Regrets: A Zillow survey found 75% of those who successfully purchased a home in the past two years say they have at least one regret about the home they bought.
Consumer Credit: Consumer credit totaled $18.9 billion in December, down from a $38.8 billion gain in November, the Federal Reserve said.
Homelessness Report: HUD’s 2021 homelessness assessment found that sheltered homelessness dropped by 8% YOY, though the number of sheltered individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness rose 20%.
Most Trusted Brokerage: HomeSmart has been named 2022’s Most Trusted Residential Real Estate Brokerage, according to a survey done by Lifestory Research.
Climate Risk Solution: RiskSpan and Verisk have created a first-of-its-kind solution for measuring and mitigating climate change risk to the housing finance industry.
Today In History: 45 years ago today, Tony Kiritsis held an Indianapolis mortgage broker hostage for 63 hours after falling behind on his mortgage, much of it broadcast live on WRTV.