Good Morning! Today is Thursday, August 18. CDC director Rochelle Walensky called for the agency to be overhauled after an external review found it had botched its response to COVID. Liz Cheney is “thinking” about running for president. A federal judge ordered CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart to pay $650.5 million for helping fuel the opioid crisis.
The Mortgage Note Reports
Rate Drop Advantage: Leaders at Rocket Mortgage have launched a new program that will cover a sizable portion of closing costs for a refinance transaction if interest rates drop and their customer refinances within three years of purchasing a home. Writer Tyrone Townsend has the story.
Sales Decline Continues: Existing-home sales dropped for the sixth straight month in July, down 5.9% from June and 20.2% YOY.
Fay CIO: Tampa-based Fay Servicing has named Dallas Vit Chief Information Officer.
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And in other mortgage and housing news…
Market “Rebalance”: U.S. home values fell 0.1% from June to July, the first decline in the raw Zillow Home Value Index since 2012, but are still up 16% from a year ago.
Vacant Properties: Zombie foreclosures are up 1.8% from last quarter and 2.2% YOY as foreclosure activity returns to historically normal levels.
Fraud Brief: CoreLogic’s quarterly fraud brief found that while fraud risk is down from last quarter and YOY, monthly data shows that risk will rise in the coming months.
FHFA Update: FHFA announced updated minimum financial eligibility requirements for seller/servicers and issuers that will go into effect next year.
CHLA Responds: CHLA issued a statement in response to Ginnie Mae’s Issuer financial requirements and the FHFA’s GSE seller/servicer financial requirements.
Conscious Lending: Fannie Mae proposed a methodology for single-family social disclosure geared towards socially oriented lending that protects consumers’ personal information.
“Slower Than Expected”: Pending new home sales are down 18.2% YOY, and 85% of homebuilders said the market was slower than they expected moving from June to July.
Half-Century: A UK lender is offering 50-year loans. Could that work in the US?