Morning Roundup (9/17/2021)– Rent Growth Overtakes Home Prices, Home Sales Down

Good Morning! Today is Friday, September 17. Elizabeth Warren sent letters to 12 regional Fed presidents asking them to ban ownership of individual stocks among top officials at their banks. The World Bank canceled their “Doing Business” report after an investigation found that management tried to alter data. The Justice Department is fighting against a settlement that would prevent citizens from suing the Sackler family.

And in mortgage and housing news…


No Bias in Mortgage Biz?: Researchers from the American Enterprise Institute Housing Institute claim studies alleging racial bias in mortgage ignore outcomes that undermine their arguments.


Rent Growth Tops Home Prices: Rent growth overtook home price growth in August, a Realtor.com report found.


Sales Down In August: Redfin reported that home sales dropped 6% in August, the first annual decline in 15 months.


Forbearances Fall To Pre-Pandemic Levels: The number of active forbearance plans fell by 1.4% this week, bringing the total below 1.6M for the first time since the start of the pandemic, according to Black Knight.


Hispanic Homeowners Drive Market: report from the U.S. Mortgage Insurers found that the population of Hispanic homeowners has grown consecutively over the last six years, even during the pandemic.


Flipping Up But Still Low: The number of flipped homes rose in Q2 for the first time in a year, but the rate was still down 6.8% from Q2 last year and low overall, ATTOM reported.


First Look: HUD is giving nonprofit, state, and local buyers priority on 50% of loan pools associated with vacant reverse mortgage properties, up from its usual 10%.


New Appraisal Requirements: FHA announced that all appraisals for single-family loans must be submitted through its cloud-based platform, FHA Catalyst, starting March 14, 2022.


Home Values Down: Home value appreciation slowed for the first time since January, and inventory rose for the fourth month in a row, a new report from Zillow found.