Daily Dose

Global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider CoreLogic, Inc. recently released its 2015 Storm Surge Analysis which found that more than 6.6 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at risk of hurricane storm surge damage. The total reconstruction cost value (RCV) is nearly $1.5 trillion for the storm surge damages.

In the wake of the recent storm disaster that swept through Texas and Oklahoma in late May, Freddie Mac, one of the largest investors in residential mortgages, announced today in a press release that it will provide disaster relief polices for eligible residents. These policies are being offered to homeowners whose home were damaged or destroyed due to the incessant storms that affected these areas.

Democratic Members on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees announced in a press release that new legislation will provide targeted relief to small financial institutions and protection for consumers. This legislation was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and has the unanimous support of Democratic Members of the respective committees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Wednesday morning that a grace period will be in effect for those servicers attempting to comply in good faith with the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) requirements that are scheduled to go into effect August 1. While the CFPB did not push back the August 1 implementation date of the rule, it attempted to ease some of those concerns on Wednesday by saying it would take into account a company's good faith effort to comply with the rule after it goes into effect.

TransUnion recently released their National Consumer Survey revealing that as Americans enter into the peak time of the year to buy a home, three out of four of people are aware that their credit score is important, yet they are not sure about how it will affect them when purchasing a home. The survey found that the majority of those who intend to or are considering buying a home in the next 12 to 18 months are not aware of actions that could enhance their credit and are unsure of how their credit directly affects the home financing process.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported today in its quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report that independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net gain of $1,447 on each loan they originated in Q1 2015, a sizable increase from a reported gain of $744 per loan in the Q4 2014.

According to a recent press release, CoreLogic, Inc., a leading global property information, analytics, and data-enabled services provider, announced that its nationwide building permit database has reached over 28 million residential, commercial, and industrial building permits. It also now tracks more than 35 permit types, covering 65 percent of the U.S. residential and commercial market.

Housing affordability is up nationwide due to low interest rates and home prices as National Homeownership Month begins in June, according to a recent release from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index released in mid-May reports that about two-thirds of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2015 were affordable to families that earned $65,800, which is the U.S. median yearly income.

Beginning on June 15, 2015, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rule 15Ga-2 takes effect for new residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), according to Moody’s Credit Outlook Report. The rule is intended to provide transparency into the credit quality of mortgage loans underlying transactions. The rule will require issuers or underwriters of asset-backed securities (ABS) that nationally recognized statistical rating organization rate to publish the findings and conclusions of any third-party review (TPR) firms’ due-diligence reports on loan quality.

Fitch Ratings has released a sector-specific report for rating state housing finance agency (SHFA) bonds secured, on a pass-through basis, primarily by mortgage-backed securities (MBS) called "State Housing Finance Agencies: MBS Pass-Through Bond Rating Criteria." This report will replace the September 2014 state housing finance agency Fitch rating report.