Morning Roundup (8/25/2022) – Affordability Outlook

ByTMN Editor Reading Time: 2 minutes

Good Morning! Today is Thursday, August 25. A Russian missile killed at least 22 people at a train station as Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day. California will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. The school board in Uvalde, Texas, fired the police chief who led the response to the May 24 shooting.

The Mortgage Note Reports

ICYMI: One of our most popular articles this month was about extended stay living and its popularity during the pandemic. Can these hotels help solve the housing crisis? Writer Chuck Green had the story.

Affordability Outlook: Homebuyer affordability improved for the second straight month in July, with the national median payment applied for by applicants decreasing to $1,844 from $1,893 in June.

Mortgage Slump: Refinance lending dropped 36% from Q1 to Q2, outweighing an increase in lending in other areas and pushing total loans down 13%.

And in other mortgage and housing news…

Student Loans: Biden will cancel $10,000 in loan debt for those earning less than $125,000 per year and $20,000 for those who received Pell grants.

Q2 GDP: Q2 GDP declined less than expected, but the economy is still shrinking.

Fed Watch: Fed watchers expect Powell’s message Friday to be a stern reminder that the beatings will continue until morale improves— that is, rate hikes will continue until inflation comes down.

July First Look: The national delinquency rate edged up to 2.89% in July but remains just 14 basis points higher than the record low set in May of this year.

Equifax Solutions: Equifax has new options for mortgage lenders leveraging its manual verifications of employment and income from Workforce Solutions.

UWM: UWM introduced two new HELOCs and raised its VA jumbo loan limit to $4 million.

SWBC Appointment: SWBC Mortgage Corporation announced that Jim Collier has been appointed Chief Risk Officer.

Disaster Overflow: China’s property market is “dangerously overheated,” but unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the global ripple effect is expected to be limited.