Good morning! Today is Friday, May 22. America prepares to mark a socially distant Memorial Day weekend and the traditional start of summer. The University of California is dropping the use of the SAT and ACT in admissions. Facebook is making a permanent shift toward more remote work.
And in mortgage and housing news …
MORTGAGE DELINQUENCY: The national delinquency rate on mortgages nearly doubled in the United States in April as the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns fully took hold across the country.
BUILDER CONFIDENCE: Builder confidence in multi-family housing markets took a beating in the first quarter of 2020.
FORBEARANCE CAMOUFLAGE: Asset quality for U.S. banks is expected to deteriorate significantly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but it could take some time for the true impact to show on bank financial statements, according to a dashboard report from Fitch Ratings.
GOLDMAN SACHS FORECLOSURES: Goldman Sachs forecloses on 10,000 homes for “consumer relief”after a 2008 federal settlement pushed the bank into becoming a big buyer of distressed mortgages.
RISKY LOAN STRUCTURE: Wraparound mortgages can help sellers boost their prices. A boon for buyers with bad credit and a money-maker for sellers, but they come with risks.
JUMBO MORTGAGES: Sprout Mortgage rolls out new jumbo mortgage program for loans of up to $3 million.
INFLATION: There’s a real chance that coronavirus could bring inflation to home prices and mortgage rates.
FORBEARANCE VS. DEFERMENT: What’s the difference between mortgage forbearance and deferment? It comes down to interest and repayment methods.
RETAIL REAL ESTATE: The biggest shopping center in the country, The Mall of America, has missed two months of payments on its $1.4 billion mortgage.
RECOVERY: As states relax COVID-19 restrictions, stable home prices and job creation could be positive spurs for both buyers and sellers.
NEW LUXURY MARKETS: New luxury markets to watch in 2020. New research shows that affluent buyers started to actively look beyond traditional luxury hotspots for communities and markets that offered better home values, a closer sense of community, and a better quality of lifestyle.