Wed, Apr 18 2018, 10:36 AM
They aren't suggesting you shop 'til you drop, but Freddie Mac says neither should borrowers buy the first mortgage they see. Doug McManus and Elias Y...
Wed, Mar 28 2018, 2:49 PM
The long-planned Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (UMBS), designed to replace the current to be announced- (TBA) eligible MBS issued separately by Fan...
Fri, Mar 2 2018, 9:16 AM
As various parts of the nation are hunkered down due to weather, just think of “2.4 million.” That is a lot of anything, especially when that is how m...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 9:12 AM
Why couldn’t the sesame seed leave the gambling casino? Because he was on a roll. In an admittedly weak segue, rolls are made in kitchens, and LOs may...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 2:04 PM
While the prospect of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needing taxpayer money conjures up images of a failing mortgage market requiring a government bailout...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 9:10 AM
Amazon Go opened its doors in Seattle as the first digital grocery store without any cashiers. (One initially simply downloads an app to use the digit...
Fri, Jan 26 2018, 10:09 AM
Freddie Mac reported today that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 9.0 percent in December. The portfolio balance at the ...
Fri, Jan 19 2018, 9:00 AM
As if we don’t have enough measures of housing and real estate prices, here’s another one. The RE/MAX National Housing Report tells us what most alrea...
Thu, Jan 18 2018, 12:27 PM
There is a rather unusual request up on the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) website. Two FHFA analysts, saying that the issue of updating th...
Wed, Jan 17 2018, 9:14 AM
“It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, as long as you have money.” Banks are where the money is, and plenty of them are paying attention to Congr...
Thu, Dec 21 2017, 10:21 AM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) for September slowed to its lowest level since January , 6.3 percent and the mon...
Thu, Dec 21 2017, 9:40 AM
Agreement has been reached between the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Department of the Treasury to reinstate a $3 billion capital rese...
Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:36 AM
“Look, if a man says he will fix it, he will. There’s no need to remind him every six months.” Humor aside, it seems that Facebook is fixing things so...
Fri, Dec 15 2017, 11:22 AM
There has been a flurry of news about the two GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in the last few weeks. The House Financial Services Committee recently...
Wed, Dec 13 2017, 9:49 AM
Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced this week that evictions from foreclosed single-family and two-to-four-unit properties owned by the GSEs wil...
Tue, Dec 5 2017, 9:19 AM
It’s good to keep things in perspective, and here’s some Tuesday trivia. Today, 2 billion adults around the world remain without a bank account, inclu...
Fri, Nov 10 2017, 9:17 AM
In lending we should all continue to champion and applaud the individuals and companies that are making a difference in our quest for equality, especi...
Fri, Nov 3 2017, 10:14 AM
The second in a scheduled three-part hearing on Sustainable Housing Finance was held on Thursday by the Housing and Insurance subcommittee of the Hous...
Thu, Oct 19 2017, 9:42 AM
A new Bulletin from Freddie Mac makes several changes to its Seller Guide . The most impactful changes relate to the way sellers can calculate student...
Wed, Oct 4 2017, 11:48 AM
While assuring members of Congress that it is their role to make decisions about housing finance reform, Melvin L. Watt, Director of the Federal Housi...
Mon, Oct 2 2017, 9:26 AM
Freddie Mac is re-imagining the Mortgage Experience to create a smarter, simpler, and less costly origination process. We're using big data and advanc...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 9:23 AM
Think you have problems? What if you owned a mall and your main tenant is Toys “R” Us? As in the Toys “R” Us that declared bankruptcy. You aint alone:...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 12:36 PM
Hard to believe it's already that time again, but Freddie Mac's Economic and Housing Research Group are out with their forecast for 2018. The headline...
Tue, Sep 12 2017, 11:21 AM
Last year Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced that their implementation of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) would continue through the en...
Tue, Aug 29 2017, 12:11 PM
Freddie Mac reported today that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 1.8 percent in July. The portfolio balance at the end ...
Mon, Aug 21 2017, 9:21 AM
What does $980k buy in the SF suburb of Vallejo, CA? A property designed by Julia Morgan (think Hearst Castle) with floating stairways, over-sized eve...
Fri, Aug 18 2017, 10:33 AM
Freddie Mac announced today that, going forward, not every application for a purchase mortgage will necessarily trigger an appraisal . A new automated...
Fri, Aug 18 2017, 10:24 AM
As investors flooded into the housing market after it collapses, they brought cash with them. At one point, 35 percent of home sale transactions were ...
Fri, Aug 11 2017, 9:47 AM
Fannie and Freddie are doing their best to remain integral to housing finance. Let me save you a lot of money that you’d spend going to conferences ju...
Fri, Jul 28 2017, 9:29 AM
Freddie Mac's Outlook this month looks at what it calls "the spoiler," the lean inventory of newly constructed homes for sale. While the situation isn...
Thu, Jul 27 2017, 2:22 PM
Freddie Mac has announced a change in requirements for its Home Possible Mortgages, including Home Possible Advantage Mortgages. The changes involve l...
Tue, Jul 25 2017, 2:08 PM
Unless one follows the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conservatorship drama on a regular basis, it is easy to get lost in the legal weeds. MND has dipped in a...
Mon, Jul 24 2017, 11:35 AM
Most of the major proposals for reforming the housing finance system rely on two steps to minimize the risk that any one or two institutions, and in t...
Fri, Jun 30 2017, 9:20 AM
Huh? The year is half over? Didn’t 2017 just start? Time has a way of flying by. Via rocket ship. July starts tomorrow… and we hear of a new marketing...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 10:08 AM
On November 30, 2016 Freddie Mac's economists issued their monthly Outlook which, in light of the sudden surge in interest rates earlier that month, w...
Wed, Jun 7 2017, 9:59 AM
Summer is here, school is out for many, and it’s time for vacation, right? Here’s a little trivia for your co-workers. What is number of available vac...
Wed, May 31 2017, 9:13 AM
It has been interesting talking to residential lending folks around the nation about their mix of business and how it has changed - if at all. It turn...
Thu, May 25 2017, 11:09 AM
Rather than taking a step back this year, home sales now seem ready to best their 2016 numbers. Freddie Mac's economists admit that, up until this mon...
Fri, May 19 2017, 9:33 AM
For me this week included time in Salt Lake City, Columbus, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Raleigh. (The mood is good as individuals continue to share ...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:57 AM
Imagine being able to keep the money you earn!? Per Mr. Mel Watt, Fannie & Freddie might have to keep their profits to avoid rescue . Mr. Watt, who ha...
Thu, May 11 2017, 2:48 PM
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt had three messages for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Thu...
Wed, May 10 2017, 9:35 AM
For appraisers, sometimes a simple 3 bedroom, 2 bath tract home can have complications that make things difficult. What about houses that actually "hi...
Thu, May 4 2017, 11:22 AM
May the 4th be with you! People wonder if anyone from Freddie Mac has ever actually visited Fannie’s location for an office visit. Yes! Here’s actual ...
Wed, Apr 26 2017, 5:15 PM
Last week, with considerable fanfare , the Mortgage Bankers Association released its plan for reforming the housing finance system, including a resolu...
Fri, Apr 21 2017, 9:28 AM
The origins of job interviews? Here you go . And speaking of employment, yesterday the commentary mentioned companies coming and going. Here in Florid...
Thu, Apr 6 2017, 9:36 AM
Want a good statistic to demonstrate how tight the housing market is? 57% of all realtors have been involved in a sale with at least 10 offers on a si...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 11:39 AM
After gathering little attention for nearly a decade, the two GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are making news on several fronts. Two developments in ...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 9:47 AM
Let’s end the week with a non-mortgage question, but one that you mathaletes will enjoy. What would happen if you were hit by a penny falling from a s...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 11:06 AM
This week involves a fair amount of cross-country travel for me (California, Washington DC, Florida, and Utah), and as it turns out Wells Fargo is the...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:36 PM
“Dance like no one is watching. E-mail like one day it may be read aloud in a deposition.” Here's some pithier legal news. The Department of Justice i...
