Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, June 15. President Biden is considering rolling back some tariffs on Chinese goods to slow rising prices. The U.S. Open, unlike Wimbledon, will allow tennis players from Russia and Belarus. Yellowstone evacuated visitors due to rain, and part of the park may be closed for the rest of the season.
The Mortgage Note Reports
Rally in Boston: More than 100 protesters who claim BlueHub Capital has a predatory program that has fleeced distressed homeowners rallied on Tuesday morning. Editor Kimberley Haas reports.
Applications Reverse Course: Mortgage loan application volume reversed course after five straight weeks of decreases, rising 6.6% last week.
Hottest Markets: Manchester, NH is May’s hottest housing market, ranking first for the 10th time in the past year on a list dominated by Northeast markets.
And in other mortgage and housing news…
Retail Sales: Retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in May, dropping from April’s revised 0.7% increase, driven by a decline in vehicle sales.
Affordability Falls: Monthly mortgage payments rose by 14.5% in April from the month prior, while the median family income increased by only 0.7%.
Investors Back Down: Real estate investors bought 77,829 homes in Q1, down 11.5% from Q4 2021 and 16.5% from Q3 2021.
Foreclosures Increase: US foreclosure activity increased 1% from last month, and is up 185% YOY as filings return to pre-pandemic levels.
RALI Release: Fannie Mae released the Refinance Application-Level Index, an indicator of refinance application activity sourcing data from Desktop Underwriter.
More Layoffs: Redfin and Compass both announced layoffs totaling 920 employees, citing demand falling below expectations.
Mid-Atlantic Inventory: Suburban and rural markets are driving supply gains across the Mid-Atlantic, with inventory rising for the first time since 2015.
Echoes Of The Past: Fears are mounting that risky lending may come back as some loan officers loosen their lending standards to get more mortgages in the pipeline.