News

Mortgage lenders are taking increased credit risks similar to those of the early 2000s, according to a new report released on Tuesday. The level of credit risk taken by lenders in Q1 of 2017 was about the same as the average risk taken between 2001 and 2003. According to the report, the shift toward riskier lending standards is a result of declining refinances, rising mortgage rates, and increased investor, condo, and co-op share of purchase loans.

The Government has been trying to figure out where the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will go for over four years now, but according to a prominent hedge fund manager, it could go on another five more. When investors bought into the GSEs during the 2008 housing crash, they were under the impression that the allocation of profit would be amongst the shareholders. When the company changed their terms in 2012, a legal battle ensued that could last a total of 10 years.

Cost of living is on the rise across the country, according to a report released on Monday that lists the top 10 cities in the country with the fastest rate of increase in the cost of living over a one year period between 2016 and 2017. The study used two main metrics to rank the cities: the increase in the cost of living index—food, rent, utilities, and transportation costs. It also measures the increase in the amount of income that was needed to “live comfortably,” which is defined by the amount of money a household has to make in a year to account for necessities, savings, and discretionary spending.

Lower and moderate-income residents of Washington, D.C. are now able to afford homeownership thanks to the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency’s (DCHFA) administering of the DC Housing and Community Development's Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP). Monday, the DCHFA announced their first closing under the program during Mayor Muriel Brown’s June Housing Bloom, a monthlong initiative showcasing how the public and private sectors are partnering to produce and preserve affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods across D.C. After five years living in a small apartment with three children, the first family to receive assistance now owns a four level townhome.

Despite the housing shortage and April’s drop in home sales, the housing market not only returned to seasonally high sales, but set a post-recession record— the strongest home sales in the last nine years of the report. According to the National Housing Report, May sales increased 20.6 percent from April and 4.3 percent from May 2016. The only metro considered to be a buyers market in the U.S. for May was Miami, Florida, which was only 0.1 over a balanced market between buyer and seller.

The U.S. is embarking on its ninth year of economic expansion and Fannie Mae is predicting economic growth rebound. Consumer spending growth is expected to return to its position as the biggest contributor to economic growth. With labor and inventory shortages still prevalent, the housing market hasn’t changed very much and home prices are still on the rise. Based on their research, Fannie expects mortgage rates to remain supportive, but the outlook on existing home sales remains cautious.

Purdy Enterprise has selected FotoNotes as its technology solution for managing property inspections, maintenance work orders and other field service activities. FotoNotes’ mobile app and cloud platform solution provides companies full visibility and control of HUD FSM inspections, work orders, and field service operations. FotoNotes also provides solutions for a wide variety of other use cases, including estimating, construction, renovations, and turns.

Potestivo & Associates, P.C., who specializes in the real estate finance and credit industry, is pleased to announce two attorneys from their Chicago team have been promoted to partner, effective June 12. Kimberly J. Goodell and Caleb J. Halberg will each serve in their new capacity as Assistant Vice President – Managing Attorney and are the newest members of the firm’s Omni Executive Committee.

Some may think owning a home means having more financial stability than renting, but a recent report says low-income homeowners are just as burdened by housing costs as renters. Housing shortages have sparked increasing home prices over the last few months and a higher share of homeowners and renters are facing affordability issues— a quarter of renters spending at least half of their income on rental housing compared to the 10 percent of homeowners. The generally lower income of renters normally explains this, but at a closer look at the numbers, they found that homeownership doesn’t protect low-income homeowners.

Calyx Software announced that Portfolio Underwrite is now available to Point and PointCentral clients. Portfolio Underwriter allows portfolio lenders to customize credit decisioning and safely originate non-agency loans that they intend to put on their balance sheets. It captures a portfolio lender’s program guidelines within its engine and delivers a rules-based underwriting decision in seconds and results of the decision are documented into a findings report.