The MReport Webcast: Tuesday 12/16/2014

Homebuilder confidence in the housing market pulled back slightly in the year's final reading, ending 2014 at the same level as a year ago. Following a four-point uptick in November, the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index dropped one point to 57 in December, the group said Monday. A reading above 50 indicates that market conditions are viewed more as good than bad. With December’s reading, the index has been above that threshold for six months straight.

Despite setbacks in both residential construction and new home sales throughout this year, builders in the NAHB’s survey remained largely optimistic all around. The index measuring current sales conditions registered at 61 in December, while the index gauging expectations for future sales was 65—both well above the neutral line, despite each losing a point. Meanwhile, the measure of traffic from prospective homebuyers held steady at 45.                                                      

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to generate profits in a recovering housing market, a group of community lenders has joined the chorus of advocates calling for the government to revisit the terms of its bailout agreement with the two mortgage giants. In a recent letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and FHFA director Mel Watt Community Mortgage Lenders of America urged the government to re-amend payment terms established when GSEs were forced to take a bailout after the crash. Per the terms of their preferred stock purchase agreements, both Fannie and Freddie are required to turn the majority of their profits over to the Treasury. In addition to some housing groups, investors in the GSEs have been vocal in the last year about the amended payment agreement, which they say created a windfall for the government at the expense of shareholders.