Good morning! Today is Friday, May 28. Memorial Day air travel is set to boom, as a rapidly expanding airline industry rises to meet the demand. Johnson & Johnson and the FDA expect to announce today that contamination problems at the plant are resolved, clearing the way for millions more vaccine doses to become available. NASA is preparing to rocket around 5,000 tardigrades “water bears —” and 128 glow-in-the-dark baby squid into space.
And in mortgage and housing news …
BELOW THREE: The Mortgage Note reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average fell below 3 percent for the week again in Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
CASH OFFERS: HomeLight products aim to help Texas buyers make cash offers.
MORTGAGE DEBT: As home prices soar, so does mortgage debt.
LENDING STANDARDS: Mortgage lenders continued to ease underwriting standards in April, but only for borrowers who were refinancing.
HOUSE FLIPPING: How house flipping pushes affordable properties out of reach for low earners.
TRANSFER TAX: New York expands liability provisions for the New York real estate transfer tax.
CONSTRUCTION STALLS: Lumber prices are helping to drive an inventory-starved housing frenzy and stall construction.
HIGH-INTEREST DEBT: As mortgage rates edge higher, many homeowners get the wrong idea about refinancing.
TIME TO CLOSE: Origination report shows that technology is accelerating time to close.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: Traditional lenders are gaining in J.D. Power consumer satisfaction ratings.
RESTAURANT FINANCIERS: Wells Fargo’s status as a top lender to US restaurants is in jeopardy after MUFG snared eight of its prized bankers to beef up its own division.