Christopher Whalen

Simply stated, the federal forbearance of mortgage payments is perhaps the largest unfunded public mandate in American history.

A number of proposals have been floated for debt payment holidays and other types of moratoria, but such approaches offer solutions that are worse than the problems.

With the return of volume and profitability to mortgage lending, it is no surprise that commercial banks are coming back to the market.

To paint nonbanks as a source of systemic risk, particularly given the track record of commercial banks in causing the 2008 subprime mortgage fiasco, seems absurd.

The fact that the more operationally skilled nonbanks have come to specialize in government mortgages is hardly surprising if you assess the cost to originate and service these loans.

For the private-label mortgage-backed securities market to grow, regulators need to focus on collateral management in addition to changes to data disclosure rules.

As tenant advocates press for even more restrictive rules for rents and capital improvements to support asset values, look for the flow of investment into multifamily real estate to dwindle.

For the mortgage industry, the question of whether the Fed can control its target range for interest rates is crucial for managing volatility.

The Trump administration's thinking on housing is filled with conflicts and contradictions, a quilt work of at times irrational proposals that seem to be at odds with the real world of mortgage finance.

Whether Congress and/or the mortgage industry is able to untangle two opposing threads in the Trump administration's plans is anyone's guess.