Good Morning! Today is Friday, November 5. Employers added 531,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%. Eleven states have filed lawsuits against President Biden’s vaccination mandate for employers. A high school principal is apologizing for lack of sportsmanship after their football team won a game with a score of 106-0. And in mortgage and housing news… Own to Rent?: Forbearance exits picked up in the final week of October, with the number of active plans dropping 23% month-over-month as some owners opt to sell and become renters. Commissions Falling Alongside Refis: Loan officer commission dropped 17% YOY in Q3 2021 as rising interest rates cause refi slowdowns. Meet The New Boss?: The White House is asking…
Some homeowners have opted to sell their houses rather than restart their active forbearance plans, leading to a 13% increase year-over-year in the nation’s supply of affordable homes. “The end of forbearance has forced many lower-income Americans to put their homes up for sale and become renters,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “This has caused the number of affordable homes on the market to surge, helping replenish inventory amid an acute housing shortage. It’s a rainstorm after a long drought, but the drought isn’t over yet.” Forbearance exits picked up in the final week of October, according to Black Knight’s blog, Vision. The number of loans in active forbearance fell by 6.9%, with 85,000 homeowners exiting their plans. Forbearance…
Good Morning! Today is Thursday, November 4. OSHA is expected to release its ’emergency order’ mandating vaccines for employees of large businesses. The U.K. approved a pill designed to treat symptomatic Covid. The attorney for the armorer on “Rust” suggested the live round that killed a woman may have been an act of “sabotage.” And in mortgage and housing news… Fed Says Tapering Is On: The Federal Open Market Committee laid out a framework for tapering its emergency bond-buying, but rate hikes weren’t discussed. Affordable Housing Up: The supply of affordable homes jumped 13% YOY in Q3, though supply dropped in the luxury market. Will Rising Rates Help Or Hurt?: Rising interest could hurt homebuyers by raising their monthly payments,…
Good Morning! Today is Election Day, 2021, Tuesday, November 2. Voters will elect governors in Virginia and New Jersey, and mayors in New York City, Boston, and Atlanta. Senator Joe Manchin said he would not support President Biden’s spending plan without “greater clarity” about its economic effects. World leaders at the climate summit in Scotland agreed to a deal to reverse deforestation by 2030.And in mortgage and housing news… Forbearances Drop To Lowest Rate Since March 2020: The volume of loans in forbearance dropped this week, with Fannie and Freddie seeing forborne loans dip below 1%. CRA Requirements For Nonbanks: Gov. New York expanded the state’s version of the Community Reinvestment Act to apply anti-redlining law to nonbank mortgage lenders.…
Forbearances continued to drop last week, with the total number of loans in protection down to 2.15% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans remains around 1.1 million. “For the first time since March 2020, the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped below 1%. A small decline for this investor category was matched by similarly small declines for Ginnie Mae and portfolio/PLS loans,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Forbearance exits slowed at the end of October to the slowest pace since late August. With so many borrowers having reached the end of their 18-month forbearance term,…
Good Morning! Today is Friday, October 29. Congressional Democrats failed to get enough votes to pass the basic infrastructure bill on Thursday as President Biden requested. Andrew Cuomo was charged with a misdemeanor sex crime, forcible touching. Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta, a reference to the online “metaverse.” And in mortgage and housing news… Black Knight: The number of loans in forbearance rose marginally this week, while forbearance starts ticked up. “They’re Coming To Get You, Barbara”: A new report from ATTOM shows a drop in the number of vacant “zombie” properties, but suggests increases to come. Pending Home Sales Down: Pending home sales fell in September, down in every region both year-over-year and month-over-month. Americans Priced Out: …
The number of “zombie” foreclosures hardly budged this quarter, though increases are expected to come, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions. Properties that are both vacant and in the foreclosure process, known as “zombie” properties, make up 3.3% of foreclosures. Zombie properties are most common in the Northeast and Midwest. New York has the highest rate, followed by Ohio, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. And 7,432 property owners vacated their homes in Q2, down from 7,538 in Q3 2021 and from 7,612 in Q4 2020. That number is down both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year (YOY) in 25 states. Georgia saw a 29% drop in zombies from Q3 to Q4, while Kentucky, Illinois, Connecticut, and Oklahoma all saw drops of over…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, October 26. Two were killed and five injured in a mall shooting in Boise, Idaho. Minneapolis residents will vote on whether to replace their police department with an agency focused on “public health.” A record-breaking storm hit California ahead of the Northeast’s first nor’easter, which is expected to cause flooding. And in mortgage and housing news… Forbearance Exits Slow: The number of loans in forbearance fell to 2.21% this week, cooling after two weeks of high exit rates, MBA reports. Summers Storms: Larry Summers warns “housing inflation is almost certain to soar,” says Biden admin underestimating inflation risks. CRA In NY: New York State may approve a bill that expands the requirements of the state community…
Forbearances continued to drop last week, though not as dramatically as the week before. The total number of loans in forbearance dropped to 2.21% of servicers’ portfolio volume, down from 2.28% the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans remains around 1.1 million. This week’s drop of seven basis points is a significant cooling compared to the prior week’s drop of 34 basis points. Black Knight reported that forbearances have entered a mid-month slowdown which they said to be unremarkable, mimicking “the same mid-month lull in removal activity that we’ve been reporting on for many months now.” MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni acknowledged the…
Good Morning! Today is Monday, October 25. FDA regulators said vaccine benefits outweigh risks in children aged 5 through 11, and an emergency authorization could come next week. Set workers on “Rust” warned of unsafe working conditions days before the film’s cinematographer was fatally shot. The Houston Astros will play the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. And in mortgage and housing news… “If You Haven’t Re-fi’d, Do So Now”: A growing consensus among housing and banking analysts is that the real force impacting mortgage rates in the coming months will be inflation. Black Knight First Look: Delinquencies, active foreclosures, and foreclosure starts all dropped to serious lows in September, Black Knight’s “first look” report shows. DOJ To Address Redlining: Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a DOJ…
