Economists discuss state of housing market

At NHC's annual Member Meeting on Thursday, the chief economists from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), and Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) gave a presentation on the state of the 2020 housing economy. MBA Chief Economist Michael Fratantoni discussed actions the Federal Reserve has taken to stabilize the housing market and the broader economy and their impact on mortgage rates, as well as recent trends in purchase activity. Fratantoni also discussed trends in mortgage forbearance, citing data from MBA's Weekly Forbearance and Call Volume Survey that showed that roughly half of servicers reported a week-over-week decline in forbearance. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun provided an overview of unemployment data across the country and showed that while housing market indicators like pending contracts collapsed in March and April, early data on May shows that the numbers may be recovering. NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz elaborated on longer-term challenges for the homebuilding industry, including labor shortages and lumber prices, and discussed potential changes in the housing market in the wake of the pandemic, including increased single-family construction in low density markets.

Representatives introduce resolution to reverse CRA rule



On June 11, House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) recent rule on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). “The Community Reinvestment Act is an essential law that was put in place to prevent redlining and to require banks to invest and lend responsibly in the communities where they are chartered,” Waters said in a statement. “It is completely unacceptable for the OCC to use the cover of a pandemic to rush out a rule that will be harmful to communities that are already suffering during this crisis.” Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also recently called for new acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks to scrap the OCC’s rule. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday that the Fed will move forward with its own separate proposal for modernizing CRA.

Lawmakers, advocates call for rent relief as eviction moratoriums expire



As eviction moratoriums put in place across the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to expire, advocates and lawmakers are amplifying calls for additional federal rental assistance. In a joint statement, Chairwoman Waters and Representative Denny Heck (D-Wash.) urged the Senate to pass the HEROES Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives last month and included a $100 billion emergency rental assistance fund. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), meanwhile, wrote a letter to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac calling for the organizations to do more to protect renters in properties with federally-backed mortgages. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s latest Rent Payment Tracker, 89% of households in professionally-managed apartment buildings paid rent as of June 13. However, advocates warn that figure could drop as unemployment benefits end and bills continue to pile up, and the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey shows that almost half of low-income renters lack confidence about their ability to pay the next month’s rent. Reports have also emerged that even in places where an eviction moratorium is still in place, from D.C. to North Carolina to New Orleans, landlords are still finding ways to evict tenants.

FHFA issues 2019 report to Congress

On Monday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its annual report to Congress for 2019. Among the topics addressed in the report was housing finance reform, with the agency calling on Congress to enact the legislative reforms necessary to allow for the release of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship. In a cover letter to the report, FHFA Director Mark Calabria called for Congress to “remove unnecessary statutory exemptions and other advantages afforded the Enterprises and grant FHFA the authorities, similar to those of other financial regulators, to develop capital standards for the Enterprises and to issue new enterprise charters.” In the report, FHFA also called for Congress to give the agency the authority to examine mortgage servicers’ practices.

Also last week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced the hiring of financial advisors to help them develop and implement plans for recapitalizing and exiting conservatorship. Fannie Mae hired Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as its financial advisor, and Freddie Mac hired J.P. Morgan.

White House council delivers Opportunity Zones report to Trump



On Wednesday, the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, led by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, delivered a report outlining program best practices to President Trump. The report, which is the third released by the council, includes best practices for Opportunity Zones stakeholders including local governments, state governments, foundations and nonprofits, and qualified opportunity funds. The Urban Institute published a separate report on the Opportunity Zones program on Wednesday making the case that the program isn’t living up to its equitable development goals and suggesting four ways to improve it, including better supporting investments in small businesses and broadening who can invest.

FHFA, FHA extend eviction and foreclosure moratorium

On Wednesday, FHFA and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that both agencies will extend their respective moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions on federally-backed single-family properties through Aug. 31. FHFA’s moratorium applies to single-family properties with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and FHA’s applies to single-family properties with FHA-insured mortgages. Both moratoriums were scheduled to expire at the end of June. “Our foreclosure and eviction extension means that these families will not have to worry about losing their home as they work to recover from the financial impacts of COVID-19,” said HUD Secretary Carson in a statement.