Daily Dose

Many immigrants struggle to gain homeownership, however, many immigrants who have been here for 10 years or longer, especially those with higher education, are able to find higher paying jobs and buy a home. Over 61 percent of immigrants from travel-ban countries are homeowners, coming close to the domestic-born homeownership rate of 68.8 percent.

Wells Fargo received its Community Reinvestment Act Rating (CRA), in which it received high scores, despite an overall score of "needs improvement." On the same day, the ban announced an agreement in principal to settle a class action lawsuit regarding claims that Wells Fargo opened accounts without the consent of its customers.

Alternative payment records could provide valuable routes to better credit for low-income people, and open up the path to a mortgage. Data from checking accounts rent, telecommunications, and utility accounts could all supplement the negative collections data. The problem is, very few consumer files have these types of data.

The Demand index, based on Redfin customer requests for home tours and writing offers, shows that buyers requesting tours were down 8.2 percent while buyers requesting writing offers were down 7.7 percent month-over-month. Redfin blames the slight reduction in demand on the small inventory.

Major metros could be especially vulnerable to rising interest rates, according to a new study by Pro Teck. San Francisco could see a 10 percent drop in home prices if rate rises more aggressively than predicted. Meanwhile, inventory in top-selling metros remains tight.

According to Urban Institute, the FHA has more power to increase credit access. The GSEs do risk-based pricing through their loan-level pricing adjustments. However, the FHA does not do risk-based pricing, and so it has insured borrowers and so it has insured borrowers with less-than-pristine credit. Charging the same fee for those with good credit as those with bad credit has limited credit availability.

Recent study shows that decrease in homeownership is most severe among 25 to 29-year-old age groups, African Americans, and one-person households. Reasons cited include tightening credit requirements, rising student debt, and lack of ability to save for down payment. Experts say that dip in homeownership has contributed to dip in national GDP.

Fannie Mae’s survey respondents point to competition from other lenders and market trend changes, such as a shift from refinance to purchases, as top reasons for low profit margins. However, respondents point to government regulatory compliance, a historically top reason for lenders’ decreased profit outlooks, as a lesser reason.

With real house prices on the rise and inventory low, spring is poised to be a seller’s market, according to First American. Real home prices rose more than 8 percent over the year, with Jacksonville, Florida, seeing the most growth annually. According to First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming, “on a year-over-year basis, real house prices increase in all the metropolitan areas tracked . . .”

With an uncertain regulatory environment, new data requirements, and promising technological opportunities all intersecting, mortgage originators face a winding road as they navigate through 2017.