Author: Michael Gersitz

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Tuesday that it is requesting input on the current and future risk of natural disasters and climate change on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, especially as it relates to the housing financial system overall.

Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. fell to a four-month low in January as builders expressed concerns about higher house prices, COVID-related supply chain issues and construction costs. Builder confidence in single-family homes dropped to 83 in January from 86 in

Mortgage applications decreased 1.9% for the week ending Jan. 15 from one week earlier, per data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey. The drop comes after a robust 16.7% jump in applications the prior week. The 30-year fixed rate

I saw a social media post recently by our local ‘mega-agent’ entitled: “Breaking News: Individual Real Estate agents added to Endangered Professions List!” This post compares the individual real estate agent to “a tennis player using a wooden racket” or

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule Tuesday clarifying that supervisory guidance is not backed by the same force as law or regulation. First proposed in October 2020, the CFPB’s final rule codifies the statement, with amendments, that

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday some insured depository institutions and insured credit unions will now be exempt from regulations to establish escrow accounts for some higher-priced mortgage loans. The final rule will take effect upon publication in the

Ensuring Americans have a “competitive economy” will be Janet Yellen’s focus as the next U.S. Treasury Department secretary, she told lawmakers Tuesday at her confirmation hearing before a vote on her nomination. Both Republicans and Democrats have indicated they will

The U.S. forbearance rate fell nine basis points last week to 5.37% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association on Monday. While this decline may be the largest drop in forbearance share in the past nine weeks, it is

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will once again extend moratoriums on single-family foreclosures and real estate owned evictions, this time until Feb. 28, 2021. “To keep our communities safe, and families in

Fannie Mae‘s latest forecast projects economic growth to hit 5.3% in 2021, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from what the government-sponsored enterprise projected last month. The forecasted growth is significantly more than the revised numbers for 2020, which Fannie

In December, AmTrust Title Insurance Company announced the hiring of seasoned underwriter Mary Shelley as its midwest region agency underwriter. We took the opportunity to talk to Shelley, who has 35 years experience in the field, about the challenges underwriters

The first time Lawyers Title of Arizona Sales Executive Sarah Perkins walked through an acquisition was 2006. The market was growing; it was exciting; companies were fighting to increase market share; hope for the future was high.  But that wasn’t

Let’s face it, if you’re a first-time homebuyer, you have a lot of questions about the home-buying process. That’s what real estate agents are here for. Almost 90% of buyers recently used a real estate agent or broker to purchase

President-elect Joe Biden announced several appointments Monday, including FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chopra is a CFPB veteran, having previously served as assistant director, where he was the bureau’s top student loan watchdog. In

2020 came, and with it COVID-19. Five weeks into the crisis, demand in the U.S. housing market bottomed and then after about nine weeks, began to climb again, with purchase applications making a full V-shaped recovery by early June. The

As the calendar flipped to 2021, it didn’t take long for the rise in mortgage rates. Just two weeks into the new year, Freddie Mac reported that mortgage rates climbed 14 basis points to 2.79%, a dramatic contrast to 2020,