Government

On the heels of Fitch Ratings downgrading the GSEs’ senior unsecured debt ratings to 'AA+' from 'AAA,’ Freddie Mac reports the fixed-rate mortgage climbed nine basis points week-over-week, inching closer to the 7%-mark.

The bipartisan Neighborhood Homes Investment Act seeks private investments in rural communities to construct affordable homes, and revitalize 500,000 homes for middle- and low-income families.

Homeowners are feeling the pinch as searches for Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) hit their highest point in U.S. internet history

The Department has announced two new initiatives geared toward building new housing units, and providing tools for preserving and improving affordable housing nationwide.

Continuing our coverage on the Fed’s announcement of a 25-basis point rate hike at the end of their two-day July meeting, more commentary has come through focusing specifically on the real estate market, including sales, defaults, and home prices.

At the conclusion of Fed’s two-day July meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee moved to raise the base interest rate by 25 basis points, with all members voting in favor of the action.

A slowdown in inflation caused the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to take an 18-basis point week-over-week plunge after nearly crossing the 7%-mark the week prior.

“While permits, a leading indicator of future starts, ticked up 2.2% month over month, the pace of construction slowed as single-family housing starts were down 7.0% month over month, meaning less groundbreaking on new homes, and single-family completions were down 2.8% month-over-month, meaning less supply was added to the housing stock,” said First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi.

Fannie Mae's latest Home Price Index reveals home prices grew 3% year-over-year in Q2, and while demand remained resilient, competition heated up for the near-historically limited supply of existing homes for sale.

MortgagePoint speaks with mortgage servicing execs from BOK Financial, Carrington, the NMSA, PHH Mortgage Corporation, and Servbank about the unusual times and unusual opportunities the industry faces midway through 2023.