Economy

Minnesota Realtors is calling for a halt to all real estate open houses statewide, and they've asked the NorthstarMLS to disable the "open house" feature in its online home listing database.

The Federal Reserve Board should create a dedicated facility for mortgage servicers to access in order to make required advances, industry participants and observers, including its largest trade group, said.

The $16 trillion U.S. mortgage market — epicenter of the last global financial crisis — is suddenly experiencing its worst turmoil in more than a decade, setting off alarms across the financial industry and prompting the Federal Reserve to intervene.

Realtors are taking advantage of nearly every type of modern technology to maintain the embers of the real estate market.

The coronavirus pandemic is threatening to put a damper on the Marin County, Calif., real estate market as it enters its normally busy spring season, with the nation facing economic uncertainty and a "shelter in place" order forcing the cancellation of many house events.

The real estate market, particularly in the so-called luxury tier, has been struggling for years.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency authorized the government-sponsored enterprises to lend additional support to the mortgage-backed securities market and temporarily allow some flexibility in lending requirements to address coronavirus-related concerns.

While the mortgage market began the year healthy, lenders and borrowers need to prepare for the impacts of the coming coronavirus recession.

The coronavirus pandemic has created confusion, delays and uncertainty in housing projects around the Bay Area, despite a crushing need for new homes from an industry deemed essential to work through the regional lock-down.

The California Association of Realtors told its members Friday to stop all face-to-face sales activities including showings, listing appointments, open houses and property inspections due to coronavirus concerns.

With increased economic distress because of the coronavirus, lenders are likely to see an increase of borrowers looking for a mortgage rescission, arguing they are eligible for an extended filing time frame.

Consumer sentiment about home price growth during a potential recession flipped because of the coronavirus scare. Now, just one-third expect an increase in value, according to Redfin.

Refinancing activity is surging, existing borrowers are inquiring about loan modifications, loan closings are being delayed by more complex credit checks — and banks are short on people to handle it all.

Mark Calabria said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are currently equipped to handle elevated delinquencies, but they might need congressional or Federal Reserve help if fallout from the coronavirus persists.

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.

The Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla., area has been a red-hot housing market with the median price at or above $300,000 for the past year, providing job opportunities for 7,000 real estate agents.

A proposal to tighten financial requirements for government-sponsored enterprise counterparties that sought to lower risk in a volatile market should be suspended, a group representing smaller lenders said, arguing it would aggravate current distress.

Real estate agents have canceled professional meetings, seen clients show up in masks, and resorted to fist bumps and elbow nudges instead of their traditional social currency — firm handshakes and longish hugs.

Mortgage applications to purchase new homes took a small step back in February from record levels during the previous month, but further positive momentum could be blunted by the coronavirus.

Add continued growth in commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding to the list of things that the economic fallout from the coronavirus might affect.