Good morning! Today is Thursday, October 15. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett closed out her confirmation hearing testimony. About 70 percent of registered voters surveyed said they would take a Covid-19 vaccine, but many of those would prefer to wait to see what side effects there are. A man in a jet pack flying over LAX was spotted by a China Airlines crew – the second sighting of its kind in a month.
And in mortgage and housing news …
GINNIE MAE: Ginnie Mae issued a record $748 billion in mortgage-backed securities during the recently completed fiscal year, nearly 50 percent higher than the previous record.
REFINANCE MARKET: While mortgage applications overall were relatively flat, significantly more American homeowners continue to work to take advantage of low interest rates by refinancing their mortgages.
UWM EARNINGS: Ahead of its initial public offering, United Wholesale Mortgage announced that it closed $54.2 billion in loans in the third quarter of this year – up 81 percent from the third quarter of 2019.
INCOME TO MORTGAGE: There are at least two schools of thought on how much of your income should be allocated to your mortgage.
BANK EARNINGS: Big banks are cautiously optimistic about the economic recovery.
FHA MORTGAGES: Many FHA borrowers are struggling, and that means FHA mortgages are harder to get.
CONSUMER SPENDING: Bank of America reports that it is seeing a full restoration of customer spending, along with declines in delinquencies on credit cards, car loans and mortgages, even as the pandemic rages on.
MORTGAGE CREDIT RISK: Reinsurers are reassured as the mortgage market passes the COVID-19 resilience test.
BORROWER BURNOUT: A new survey by YouGov for Forbes Advisor suggests homeowners may not believe the mortgage refinance savings are real.
BUYER PESSIMISM: Only 54 percent of buyers think now’s a good time to move forward with a home purchase, according to a new Fannie Mae survey. The question is: Are buyers being overly pessimistic, or might they indeed be better off waiting?
THE FED: How does the Federal Reserve interest rate cut affect your mortgage and credit cards?