Wed, Jul 27 2016, 8:59 AM
Fannie Mae has made changes to its HomeReady
mortgage program that allows borrowers to obtain a mortgage with as little as a
3 percent downpayment...
Mon, Jul 25 2016, 9:47 AM
Every day we have news coming out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some of the news is attempts at changing the structure of the two – being under gover...
Fri, Jul 22 2016, 11:24 AM
Fannie Mae's economists have upgraded projections for economic growth in the second quarter to by 0.3 percent to 2.4 percent because of unexpectedly s...
Tue, Jul 12 2016, 11:54 AM
Lou Holtz observed, "Never tell your problems to anyone....80% don't care and the other 20% are glad you have them." People who don’t understand econo...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 4:35 PM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released an update on the progress made toward the Single Security that is expected to replace those cur...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 11:24 AM
The Fourth of July is Monday...the date of the Declaration of Independence (quibble all you want about late signers); the next commentary will be Tues...
Wed, Jun 8 2016, 9:13 AM
In reviewing Fannie MORA and Freddie CORE reviews it's clear that seller/servicers continue to struggle with establishing and implementing an internal...
Mon, May 23 2016, 9:50 AM
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports nearly 20% of Ameri...
Fri, May 6 2016, 10:48 AM
In releasing its first quarter financial results on Thursday Fannie Mae surprised some by not following Freddie Mac down the rabbit hole. The larger ...
Thu, May 5 2016, 9:45 AM
May is Older Americans Month. Underwriters probably know that about 21% of the labor force is comprised of men 65 and older and only 13.5% of women in...
Fri, Apr 8 2016, 12:20 PM
onsumer pessimism appears to be eroding Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) which this month posted its lowest reading in 18 months. Th...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:29 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic Summary for March reports an improvement in financial market conditions and reduced concerns about an imminent risk of reces...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 9:48 AM
Regarding the darned time change Sunday, from Georgia Jim Bedsole writes, “Which is why I continue to advocate that, if we are going to be forced to ‘...
Tue, Mar 8 2016, 11:36 AM
The most dramatic change in responses to Fannie Mae's most recent National Housing Survey was in the net number of Americans who think home prices are...
Wed, Feb 24 2016, 10:44 AM
Here's your IT lesson for the day. The NSA's Skynet program utilizes metadata to identify suspected terrorists. The system uses mass surveillance of...
Wed, Feb 24 2016, 3:59 PM
Fannie Mae is updating its Selling Guide to include changes several areas. The changes include elimination of the continuity of obligation policy ...
Wed, Feb 3 2016, 9:08 AM
I
spent some time at the Texas Mortgage Banker's event earlier this week
in Houston, and some of the discussion revolved around another refi
bo...
Fri, Jan 15 2016, 1:02 PM
Two factors appear poised to positively affect
the ability of households to purchase a home according to Fannie Mae's economists. In their initial...
Wed, Jan 6 2016, 10:15 AM
The Wall Street Journal reports banks are beefing up cybersecurity defenses
by taking actions that include banning employees from using USB drives...
Thu, Dec 17 2015, 12:04 PM
Fannie Mae said Thursday there are indications
that easing lending standards may help mitigate some of the loss of housing
affordability moving into...
Fri, Dec 4 2015, 10:33 AM
A Fannie Mae vice president wrote
recently about some of the company's products designed to help existing
homeowners move up or improve their homes...
Fri, Dec 4 2015, 9:50 AM
Hiring
quick-thinking candidates is important, and Martin H. contributed,
"There's another great answer to the traditional interview question,
'...
Thu, Dec 3 2015, 10:55 AM
Once
again we can all listen to the yammering about the Federal Reserve's
Open Market Committee meeting. But for those who would actually like to ...
Fri, Nov 27 2015, 11:28 AM
There
are 50 states in the U.S., and 3007 counties in those states. (The
numbers of counties per state ranges from the 3 in Delaware to 254 in
T...
Tue, Nov 24 2015, 10:45 AM
Nonbank online lender CashCall
has paid $2 million in restitution and fines to settle California state
allegations that the company duped consum...
Fri, Nov 20 2015, 9:45 AM
With the year nearing an end Fannie Mae's chief
economist Doug Duncan and his Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group are
holding to their most r...
Tue, Nov 10 2015, 10:27 AM
Consumer attitude appeared more
volatile or perhaps indecisive according to their responses to October's National
Housing Survey. Fannie Mae sa...
Wed, Nov 4 2015, 3:28 PM
Fannie Mae has released another set of changes to its Selling Guide. The changes are in the following categories:
Refund of Loan-Level Price Ad...
Thu, Oct 22 2015, 10:46 AM
If
anyone out there wants to be buy a big office building, Fannie has one:
the company is preparing to move to its new HQ downtown and is selling...
Tue, Oct 20 2015, 5:25 PM
Fannie Mae has announced three enhancements of data used
through its Desktop Underwriter (DU) system which it says will bring more certainty and sim...
Thu, Oct 8 2015, 10:14 AM
Who
says that financial reporters don't have a sense of humor? I caught
this recent headline about a story on Alcoa Aluminum splitting into
mini...
Wed, Oct 7 2015, 9:43 AM
How
long has your staff been on their jobs? The Fed has kept short term
rates unchanged for 6 years and 9 months at this point. Does your senior
...
Wed, Sep 23 2015, 10:48 AM
How bad is the housing market in San Francisco, California? Well, here's a "beauty" that is on the market for $350,000 . Run that one by any investor...
Tue, Sep 8 2015, 3:00 PM
Fannie
Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group have taken the company's National
Housing Survey (NHS), conducted since 2011, and attempted to dist...
Fri, Aug 28 2015, 1:39 PM
Fannie Mae has published a set of changes to its Selling Guide . The changes affect verification of
self-employed income , Home-Style Renovation l...
Fri, Aug 7 2015, 11:32 AM
Yesterday
I attended the California Association of Mortgage Professionals
conference in Southern California, and was talking to a buddy who works ...
Fri, Aug 7 2015, 8:06 PM
Negativity was pervasive in the results of Fannie Mae's July
National Housing Survey (NHS).
Respondents indicated falling expectations about the ec...
Thu, Jul 23 2015, 3:20 PM
Despite
improved consumer spending and stronger residential and non-residential
investments Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research team are ho...
Tue, Jul 14 2015, 10:28 AM
June marked the beginning of hurricane season , as the North Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 st and ends November 30 th .
The last time ...
Fri, Jul 10 2015, 1:01 PM
One of the biggest challenges
(and greatest opportunities) loan officers face today is the maze of constantly
changing guidelines, programs, and pol...
Wed, Jul 8 2015, 4:08 PM
Another milestone was reached on Wednesday as the government
sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and their conservator the Federal Housing Finance
Agency m...
Tue, Jul 7 2015, 12:23 PM
Are you in debt? You're not alone - and check out this United States debt clock - enough to make your stomach turn over.
Back in February the Col...
Wed, Jul 1 2015, 4:07 PM
Highlights from the most recent update to Fannie's Selling Guide:
Conversion of
Principal Residence Requirements
At the height of the
finan...
Wed, Jun 3 2015, 11:01 AM
There
is plenty of dialog and discussion in the lending industry. Certainly some of the conversation
involves the fact that, for the popular pres...
Wed, May 27 2015, 2:47 PM
Fannie Mae
has issued a slew of updates, clarifications, and extensions affecting its Selling Guide . Announcement SEL-2015-06 includes the followi...
Fri, May 22 2015, 1:42 PM
Fannie
Mae's economists used their May economic and strategic summary to downgrade
expectations for 2015 growth but at the same time painted a slig...
Thu, May 7 2015, 3:57 PM
Fannie Mae said on Thursday that while
the results of its April National Housing Survey showed some improvement in housing
sentiment, it was "likely...
Mon, May 4 2015, 9:53 AM
By
now the remains of the pizza lunches for everyone working OT to deliver
a successful April have been cleared away, and lenders are optimistic
...
Fri, Apr 17 2015, 10:48 AM
Since inflation doesn't exist much anymore in the economy, how about in your garage ? Detroit has plenty of empty garages and so the city announced a...
Tue, Apr 14 2015, 4:03 PM
First-time homebuyers seeking to buy a house through Fannie
Mae's HomePath ® program can
receive a significant hand-up from a new program the com...