Daily Dose

Commentary is an ongoing series on theMReport.com that focuses on opinions, ideas, and insights from experts across mortgage banking. This analysis features Cari McCue, Guardian Mortgage’s COO, discussing how long-term demographic trends will affect the mortgage industry.

Borrowers who owe more money to banks than their home is worth is slowing decreasing, however more than half of these borrowers are stuck in an underwater free fall with little to no hope of resurfacing. According to Zillow’s first quarter Negative Equity Report released today, although the negative equity rate is falling, more than half or 4 million homeowners owed the bank at least 20 percent more than the worth of their home.

In an effort to eliminate discrimination within the HUD and DOT programs and raise awareness during pride month in June, U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (D-California) proposed an amendment on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives requesting non-discrimination provisions and LGBT equality in federal housing and transportation programs

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro touted the success of HUD programs such as those to end veteran homelessness and the Jobs Plus Initiative when questioned about HUD's success during a full House Financial Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

Increases in home prices and the stock market pushed household wealth to nearly 85 trillion for the first quarter of 2015, according to the Federal Reserve’s Statistical Release titled “Financial Accounts of the United States” released today. The net worth of households and nonprofits rose increased by $1.63 trillion to $84.9 trillion during the first quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, the value of directly and indirectly held corporate equities increased $487 billion and home values rose $503 billion.

In response to the positive Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment data released on Monday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose above four percent this week for the first time since November 2014. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), revealed that the average fixed mortgage rates averaged 4.02 percent for the week ending June 11, 2015.

For the 27th consecutive month, cash sales made have fallen to 34.6 percent of total home sales nationally in March 2015, down from 39 percent in March 2014, according to CoreLogic data released today.

A bipartisan group of Senate Banking Committee members wrote a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) requesting that the agency expand and provide better transparency of the development of the credit risk transfer programs. These programs shift credit risk from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private sector, according to a press release.

Despite the recent announcement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to provide a grace period for servicers attempting to comply in good faith with the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) requirements that are scheduled to go into effect August 1, lingering TRID concerns remain. The Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB) and other housing associations, requested today in a letter that the CFPB implement a hold-harmless period on TRID enforcement. Many housing industry groups are supporting legislation that would above this period, the press release says.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, a San Francisco real estate start-up recently conducted a survey of home sellers and discovered that since 2014, more than one in four sellers nationally sold their home in less than two weeks. Despite the multiple bids and offers a seller may receive, the survey also noted that they are more likely to choose an offer based on emotion rather than money, compared to pre-recession times.