Tag Archives: Housing Affordability

Twenty-eight California Democrats urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to sidestep Congress by recess-appointing another agency director ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô this time for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Democratic signers criticized the FHFA for failing to assist more homeowners and prevent foreclosures, beginning with an energy program described by the members of Congress as one that would lower energy payments and help Americans afford their mortgages. Last week Obama bypassed Republican opposition by recess-appointing Richard Cordray.

Fannie Mae CEO Michael Williams announced Tuesday that he will resign once the mortgage giant selects his successor. A 21-year veteran with Fannie Mae, he accepted an appointment to head up the mortgage company just as the FHFA placed it into conservatorship during the financial crisis. The announcement follows Ed Haldeman├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós decision last fall to step down as CEO of Freddie Mac, just after the two executives saw themselves and eight others in senior leadership positions embroiled in scandal over multimillion-dollar bonuses.

Job growth, appreciating home prices, and fewer scuttled single-family housing permits helped improve 76 housing markets over the last six months, according to an index released Monday. The National Association of Home Builders and First American Title Insurance Company released a joint index to measure improving markets against these criteria. Cities that made the index included Dallas, Des Moines, and Jacksonville, with Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas garnering the most of any states in improving markets.

Consumer sentiment climbed higher last month despite historically low conditions, with Americans by and large feeling more optimistic about housing, according to Fannie Mae. In conducting its December National Housing Survey, the GSE polled 1,000 respondents with questions about the economy and housing conditions at large. The big picture? More Americans expect a better New Year for their financial circumstances, higher home prices and mortgage rates, and steadily improving conditions for the housing market. Sixty-four percent reported wanting to buy their next home.

Still-tight credit supply is at fault for anemic demand in the housing market, preventing a full-fledged recovery from exerting itself, according to one governor on the Federal Reserve Board. Delivering a presentation before trade groups in Virginia earlier Friday, Fed governor Elizabeth Duke faulted underwriting and lending standards, among other market forces, for delaying financial support for homeowners. She said tight credit conditions persist even when the GSEs and FHA offer lenders a number of opportunities to shield themselves from additional risk.

The U.S. economy soldiered ahead by adding 200,000 jobs over December, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent as more employers picked up seasonal staff members for the holidays. The Labor Department reported Friday that total private-sector employment reached 212,000 last month, alongside fewer jobs for local and state governments, marginal declines in real estate services, and a notable pickup in residential construction around the country. Real estate, rental and leasing services lost jobs by 1.3 percent on average in December.

More Americans still feel uneasy about their household finances, leaving only 5 percent interested in refinancing their mortgage, according to a recent Harris Poll. Polling 2,237 adults across the country in mid-December, the research firm found respondents overwhelmingly despondent about the fiscal state of the nation. When it came to housing issues, the poll found Americans about as interested in home improvements and equity lines of credit as they were in refinancing their mortgages.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made clear Thursday that it will exercise its full authority to supervise a host of nonbank financial entities, with mortgage originators, brokers, servicers, and others in plain view. The bureau, newly empowered by Richard Cordray├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós recess appointment Wednesday, offered up a video in which the new director addressed a virtual audience Thursday. The bureau released an 800-plus-page manual for nonbank examiners detailing their examination procedures, which focus on an entity├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós volume of business, services, and products.

Uncertainty in the markets helped ring in the New Year with record lows for mortgage rates, as concerns over debt crises and job growth lingered for wary investors. Finance Web site Bankrate.com and mortgage company Freddie Mac released their findings for mortgage rates Thursday in two separate weekly surveys. Bankrate.com reported interest rates for the 30-year loan hitting a record 4.18 percent this week, down from 4.21 percent last week. Freddie likewise found rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sliding from 3.95 percent last week to 3.91 percent this week.

Mortgage application volume fell 3.7 percent in mid-December, reflecting a rebound from sharper declines seen during the same time last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported the findings in releasing its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which it adjusted to account for the holidays. The MBA├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan applications, saw total volume tick up by 39 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a higher number for the last few weeks of December 2011 on a year-over-year basis. Mortgage applications fell modestly in comparison last year.