Tue, Jul 12 2022, 10:39 AM
I mentioned yesterday that 4 out of 3 people have trouble with math, but it doesn’t take a genius to do subtraction. 6 - .2 = 5.8, right? Wouldn’t you...
Mon, Jul 11 2022, 11:13 AM
Did you know that 4 out of 3 people have trouble with math? I do too, as suggested by my capital markets background, but I know enough to understand t...
Fri, Jun 10 2022, 10:27 AM
Start the day with a little something non-mortgage? Ira S. with U.S. Mortgage, on his time off, of course, found “River Runner.” One can basically cli...
Mon, May 23 2022, 10:52 AM
I recently opened my slang dictionary to the page that defined the origin of, “Different ways to skin a cat” and left it near my cat Myrtle’s water bo...
Thu, Apr 14 2022, 10:34 AM
It’s Thursday. What should we talk about today? Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter? How about the jump in adjustable-rate locks as evidenced by the MBA’s fig...
Fri, Apr 8 2022, 11:27 AM
The risk-free 2-year Treasury began 2022 yielding .73 and is now at 2.52 percent! Does your company offer 2-1 buydown loans? Do your LOs even know wha...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 3:02 PM
Fannie Mae’s economists have again stepped up their expectations for the Fed’s response to escalating inflation. A 7.5 percent annual increase in the ...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 8:48 AM
Things change and time passes. A little more than three months ago we “fell back” and now we have less than a month until most states in the U.S. chan...
Tue, Jan 25 2022, 11:31 AM
Numbers are interesting things. “1” is the number of dogs, that I know of, rescued by a drone dragging a sausage and leading the dog to safety out of ...
Thu, Dec 30 2021, 11:12 AM
Do we have an 8-year memory in an industry with 10-year business cycles? Bridging the gap between affordability, qualifying with a low income, and ris...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 1:35 PM
Fannie Mae jumped up its forecast for real GDP on a Q4/Q4 basis this week, revising it from 4.8 percent in last month's report to 5.5 percent. The com...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 10:52 AM
W.C. Fields said, “Money will not buy happiness, but it will let you be unhappy in nice places.” Unfortunately, many people have much less of it, and ...
Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:57 AM
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reminding homeowners and mortgage servicers that their disaster relief options are in effect for those affected by...
Fri, Nov 19 2021, 12:45 PM
The ink wasn’t dry on Fannie Mae’s October economic forecast when the month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) was published showing an inflation rate two-t...
Thu, Nov 18 2021, 10:19 AM
Recently the podcast, its link at the bottom of this opening paragraph daily, quoted, “Change in residential lending is mandatory; progress is optiona...
Mon, Nov 15 2021, 10:54 AM
This morning I head to Kansas for the MBAKC annual membership luncheon later this week. Home price appreciation is doing just fine in Kansas City , an...
Mon, Nov 1 2021, 1:18 PM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) reported their respective third quarter 2021 financial results on Friday. Both posted significant increases in n...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:27 AM
Someone here in San Diego asked an audience, “Who out there misses their Blackberry?” and many raised their hands. Technology… an interesting thing. H...
Thu, Sep 9 2021, 11:28 AM
The GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will be required to submit Equitable Housing Finance Plans to their regulator the Federal Housing Finance Agency...
Mon, Aug 23 2021, 10:49 AM
Fires in California, floods in Tennessee, hurricanes in New York, COVID hospitalizations seemingly everywhere written up by the press. The “fun” never...
Fri, Aug 20 2021, 1:42 PM
Fannie Mae's economists provided a mixed forecast this month. The baseline view of the company's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) group is for th...
Thu, Aug 19 2021, 5:25 PM
It seemed like a simple solution for expanding the credit profile of many first-time homebuyers, but Fannie Mae's new plan to utilize rent payment his...
Fri, Aug 13 2021, 11:06 AM
It has been under discussion for what seems like forever, but Fannie Mae will begin to recognize non-reported types of credit performance in qualifyin...
Mon, Aug 9 2021, 10:47 AM
Last week I was in Orange County at the Insellerate Experience Summit 21, and this week I am 2,500 miles away in Orlando, FL at the Lenders One Summit...
Fri, Jul 30 2021, 11:23 AM
Yesterday I received this note from Tennessee. “Rob, thank you for the commentary, as always. Among several noteworthy items in yesterday’s, one thing...
Tue, Jul 20 2021, 8:10 AM
Like most recent economic forecasts, that one from Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) group for July continues to project a pull-back ...
Wed, Jul 14 2021, 11:37 AM
Don’t think technology controls you? How about this news that Apple’s weather app will never show a temperature of 69 degrees ? Good mortgage loan ori...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 4:44 PM
Fannie Mae's economists have revised a lot of their forecast from last month as new data has come in. The outlook for the 2021 GDP has been revised mo...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 11:05 AM
Fortunately for much of the rest of the United States, lumber prices have been falling since May, hopefully cutting the money required for new constru...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 10:31 AM
Broker and Lender Services and Products Faster applications = happier borrowers = loyal customers. VOE+VOIs are an unnecessary pain in the you know wh...
Thu, May 6 2021, 10:47 AM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) have provided details for their streamlined refinance programs that were originally announced by the Federal Hou...
Tue, May 4 2021, 4:56 PM
The GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been given orders to develop so-called living wills. Such wills are credible resolution plans that outline ho...
Mon, May 3 2021, 12:18 PM
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported improved income during the first quarter of 2021. Fannie Mae said its net income increased from $4.57 billion...
Thu, Apr 29 2021, 10:36 AM
A “google” is the large number of 1 with 100 zeroes after it. For lenders, a billion is a large number, and it would be unheard of for a lender to sav...
Wed, Apr 28 2021, 12:05 PM
Earlier this month the Urban Institute pointed out that the unprecedented low interest rates of the pandemic era have not benefitted everyone. Their r...
Mon, Apr 19 2021, 12:30 PM
Incoming data for March has caused Fannie Mae to again revise its forecast for the year's growth in gross domestic product (GDP). The company's Econom...
Mon, Apr 12 2021, 10:41 AM
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) have released information to their lenders confirming that any loans they purchase after July 1, 2021 must ...
Mon, Mar 22 2021, 12:19 PM
Fannie Mae made a few modest changes to its economic projections this month as consumer spending in January was above expectations and interest rates ...
Fri, Mar 12 2021, 9:56 AM
A year ago… remember when you couldn’t find toilet paper for sale? Now you can’t find a house for sale. But there are plenty of Agency MBS and other d...
Thu, Mar 11 2021, 12:55 PM
Fannie Mae has sent lenders an advanced notice that additional risk criteria is coming for loans it acquires from lenders. Lender Letter 2021-08 lays ...
Thu, Mar 11 2021, 11:24 AM
With all the hundreds of thousands of borrowers around the nation left to refinance, lenders are understandably concerned about mortgage rates creepin...
Fri, Mar 5 2021, 11:54 AM
A new policy paper from the Urban Institute (UI) looks at the recent amendments to the senior preferred stock purchase agreement (PSPA) agreed to by o...
Fri, Feb 26 2021, 9:11 AM
Deadlines for COVID-19 related relief for borrowers with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) mortgages were extended by the Federal Housing Finance Agenc...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 11:52 AM
Fannie Mae will implement a new version of its Desktop Underwriter (DU) after the weekend of March 13 . Version 11.0 apply to loan casefiles submitted...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 1:00 PM
Optimism is running high in Fannie Mae's first Economic and Housing Outlook of the year. The company's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) team says...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 9:59 AM
This week Joe Exotic did not receive a presidential pardon, nor did mortgage rates move much versus last week, but there are still over 16 million ref...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:14 AM
Late last week the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) agreed to amend the Preferred Stock Purcha...
Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:02 AM
As Flagstar’s Marcus L. points out, “1999 doesn't sound like that long ago until you realize that people with a birth year starting with ‘2’ are start...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 1:53 PM
In November, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a new regulatory capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs). At the t...
Wed, Nov 25 2020, 9:36 AM
Second only to the excitement of the new phone book coming, the new conforming loan limit is $548,250 for 2021 , up from $510,400 in 2020, and some in...
