Mortgage Roundup (3/2/20) – Co-buying, Single Homeowners & Application Defects

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are up to 89 with a second confirmed death. Pete Buttigieg ends his presidential bid. McDonalds is giving away Egg McMuffins as Wendy’s launches a breakfast menu. 

And in mortgage news …

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is shifting half of its home-equity staff to mortgages to keep up with demand.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria told members of the Credit Union National Association that he expects Fannie and Freddie public stock offerings to take place in 2021.

Fannie and Freddie are two of the strangest creatures in finance. A Bloomberg story looks at the tricky job director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mark Calabria faces.

Mortgage application defects are at a new low with more refinancing activity in the pipeline. 

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage hit 3.23 percent – the lowest rate seen since the 30-year briefly touched 3.15 percent in September 2012. Mortgage rates take their cues from US Treasury yields, which have fallen to fresh record lows as fears that coronavirus will stall global growth.

More millennials are turning to co-buying in order to afford owning a home. 

The single-homeownership rate is at record highs due to a surge in single households that exist with owners under the age of 35 and over 55.

Construction workers can build a home, but they can’t buy one in metro-Denver. The housing shortage is driving prices out of reach for the majority of homebuilders. 

A HUD leader announced significant changes to the FHA’s Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) program at a panel on government loan servicing at the Mortgage Bankers Association Servicing Conference. Leaders from USDA, the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and Ginnie Mae outlined the steps each agency is taking to better serve borrowers and servicers.