The Mortgage Bankers Association has joined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in revising origination projections downward for this year, cutting its forecast from $2.6 trillion to $2.4 trillion.In its monthly Mortgage Finance Forecast for May, the MBA predicted that refinancings will total $1.0 trillion, down from the previously forecast $1.2 trillion, and that mortgages for purchasing homes will make up 57% of total originations, or $1.4 trillion. (Fannie Mae recently lowered its 2004 mortgage origination forecast from $2.58 trillion to $2.30 trillion, and Freddie Mac lowered its forecast from $2.8 trillion to $2.4 trillion.) MBA chief economist Doug Duncan said the Federal Reserve is likely to begin raising rates in June because of strong employment and production growth and rising inflation pressures. "Our forecast has for some time anticipated that the Fed would wait until late this year before starting to raise short-term interest rates, but the growth of the economy has accelerated and raised the likelihood of a near-term rate increase," he said. The MBA now projects that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate will increase to 6.4% in the fourth quarter. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.
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Elevated delinquency levels have not affected expected losses, however, due to home price appreciation, Fitch Ratings said.
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Retail lenders, including Beeline, Tomo Mortgage and Rocket Mortgage, settled with the department over infractions like submitting a false certification to not having the proper liquidity to be in the program.
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A pair of bills, one with bipartisan support, look to address the issues around heirs' property so these families can have clear title on their homes.
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The agreement, in which the real estate giant admits no wrongdoing, will cover around 70,000 agents.
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Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.
April 25 -
Members of the LGBTQ community were most likely to have experienced housing bias, according to a Zillow survey, which also found many people don't recognize how fair lending laws could help.
April 25