Mortgage Roundup (7/17/20) – Casa Out, 3% & Recovery

Good morning! Today is Friday, July 17. Looming layoffs at airlines have unions and some lawmakers pushing for more government aid. The FBI is looking into the Twitter hack of some of the most famous accounts. Scientists say a new ocean is being born, as part of the African continent is slowly peeling apart.

And in mortgage and housing news …

CASA TAKES LEAVE FROM AIME: Anthony Casa announced he will take a leave of absence from his role as the head of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts – but stopped short of resigning after it was disclosed he sent lewd and misogynistic video texts about the wife of a rival.

BREAKING BARRIERS: Mortgage rates crashed through the 3 percent floor for the first time since Freddie Mac began tracking rates.

TOWNSTONE STRIKES BACK: Lawyers for the Chicago mortgage company Townstone Financial accused the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of targeting their client because of their political views – and not their business practices, as laid out by the agency earlier this week.

MARKET RECOVERY: Home buyers, trying to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates and make up for lost time, are finding limited and more expensive options in most places. However, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Louisville, Birmingham (Ala), and Minneapolis are lagging badly when it comes to seeing their housing markets recover.

FIERCE COMPETITION: Those shopping for homes will face fierce competition ahead as the market returns to pre-COVID levels.

CHANGING SUBURBS: Five ways the coronavirus pandemic is forever changing some suburbs

OPTIMISTIC?: Bank of America sees reason for hope, seeing early signs of rebound amid an economy racked by the coronavirus. Meantime, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are more somber, warning that they expect the current recession to be worse than initially expected.

SECRET BENEFIT: Paying your mortgage bi-weekly may feel too aggressive for your current budget, but the math behind this small “trick” makes it easier to pay down your mortgage faster, with minimal impact on your monthly budget and current lifestyle. 

MORTGAGE PPP: 720 mortgage companies took PPP money and report that jobs were saved.

COMMUNITY BANKING: COVID-19 is revealing a greater need for technology and diversification in community banking.