In Case You Missed It: A Look at Recent National Housing Policy News

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Reform Will be High on Mnuchin's Agenda 

Maybe GSE reform will happen quickly after all?
Despite Fitch Ratings’ analysts suggesting recently that reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be slowed by the Trump administration’s other legislative efforts, one of President Trump’s top economic advisors said Friday that Fannie and Freddie reform will be high on Steve Mnuchin’s agenda once he is confirmed as Secretary of the Department of the Treasury.
Making the rounds Friday to discuss Trump’s financial reform plans, Gary Cohn, the White House National Economic Council Director and a former top executive at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC that government-sponsored enterprise reform is “definitely on our agenda.”

Trump Signs Executive Order to Overhaul Dodd-Frank

Directs Treasury Secretary to review financial laws
As expected, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that begins to roll back the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, the landmark legislation passed in wake of the financial crisis. Word of Trump’s plans for signing the executive order first began to leak out Friday morning, with Trump himself saying that his administration plans to “cut a lot of out of Dodd-Frank.” Trump signed the order with Gary Cohn, the White House National Economic Council Director and a former top executive at Goldman Sachs, and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, by his side.

Hispanic Homeownership Rate Surged in 2016

Only ethnic demographic to increase homeownership rate
The homeownership rate for Hispanics increased in 2016, contrary to other ethnic groups, who all saw a decrease in homeownership. The homeownership rate among Hispanics increased to 46% in 2016, up from 45.6% the year before, according to a report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the overall homeownership rate dropped from 63.7% in 2015 to 63.4% in 2016. At the same time, the African-American rate also dipped from 43% to 42.2% and the Asian-American rate dropped from 56.5% to 55.5%. Hispanics were the only ethnic demographic with an increase in their homeownership rate. Hispanics also led the nation in household formations with a net increase of 330,000 households in 2016.

New RIHA Study Details Shifts in Rented vs. Owned Housing Stock

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Research Institute for Housing America released a new study examining the trends in existing housing stock between owner-occupied and rental over time, noting substantive shifts from owner-occupied to rental over the past 15 years. The study, Owned Now Rented Later? Housing Stock Transitions and Market Dynamics, authored by Stuart Rosenthal, Maxwell Advisory Board Professor of Economics at Syracuse University, found that between 2000 and 2014, 6.5 percent of homes built prior to 2000 and 10.3 percent of homes built in the 1990s, shifted from owner-occupied to rental status. "Homes transition quite frequently, with rising prices shifting rental units into the owner-occupied sector and falling prices having the opposite effect," Rosenthal said. "Over a decade, roughly 2 percent of the housing stock moves from owner to rental occupancy."