Economy

Continued failure to bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship will lead to see-saw mortgage policy every time the White House changes hands, which is against the intent of the GSE statutes that indicate a desire for stable secondary markets, writes the Principal at public affairs firm TVDC.

The latest inflation news has created concern that the Federal Reserve's pivot on short-term rates could be delayed.

While mortgage volume should rise this year, the government-sponsored enterprise expects slightly less activity than it did back in January.

Since mid-January, "we have seen a meaningful uptick in demand that has continued through this past weekend," Toll Brothers Chief Executive Officer Doug Yearley said in an earnings call Wednesday. 

Comparable sales fell 3.5% in its fiscal fourth quarter, Home Depot said Tuesday.

Investors have hammered the New Jersey-based lender following the turmoil at New York Community Bancorp. But Valley executives say there are key differences between the two real estate-focused banks, and they express confidence that the bank's underwriting will hold up again this cycle.

The public retirement fund, one of the biggest in the US, said four years ago it would review all of its fossil-fuel holdings as it sought to reduce investment risks linked to climate change.

The government-sponsored enterprise financed 955,000 mortgages last year, down from the 1.8 million loans it backed in 2022.

The year-over-year gain was 1.3 percentage points higher in the most recent period compared with the third quarter last year, the National Association of Realtors found.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen didn't directly address the turmoil at New York Community Bank, and said that while some smaller institutions could be hit by a changing commercial real estate market, she doesn't anticipate these mortgages will become a systemic risk.