Rental Housing
Many metro areas reported reduced commercial and multifamily construction starts in 2017 compared to 2016, said Dodge Data & Analytics, New York. "Of the commercial and multifamily project types, multifamily housing is the one that appears to have already reached its peak and is now heading downward," said Dodge Data & Analytics Chief Economist Robert Murray, noting a 12 percent decline in dollar terms during 2017.
High-income renters are a growing share of all rental households, particularly in the nation's most expensive metropolitan areas, including Washington. The shift comes amid tremendous growth in the national rental housing market, which added nearly 10 million new rental households between 2006 and 2016. These include 2.9 million "high-income" renters (those with real annual incomes exceeding $100,000). This is a 29 percent increase in a group that represented 9 percent of all renters in 2006 but accounted for 13 percent of renters in 2016.
Homeownership
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is considering a potential change in the credit scoring models approved for use by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and is currently receiving public comment on this important policy issue. This report provides an overview of the issues involved.
Last year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they were increasing their debt-to-income ratio to 50%. But now, private mortgage insurance companies are pushing back, announcing new underwriting requirements, including higher credit scores, for loans with DTIs exceeding 45%.
This report addresses how the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) foreclosure and conveyance processes can be changed to bring down costs and create efficiencies.
Credit bureaus routinely convert information they receive regarding mortgage application filings within 24 hours into “trigger leads” which they sell to competing mortgage lenders. This practice has become controversial and is being blamed for predatory practices on consumers, especially unsophisticated ones. Last week, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers began pushing a campaign on Capitol Hill for an outright ban.
Manufactured Housing
The affordable home purchase market continues to suffer an acute inventory shortage. High construction costs and labor shortages mean builders can’t keep up with household formation, and Americans who already own homes are reluctant to sell an asset that is appreciating rapidly. While there’s no easy fix, signals within the federal government suggest one solution is getting increased attention—manufactured housing. Now, Federal agencies are reviewing financing and regulations in hopes of giving manufactured homes a boost. This article summarizes these issues and their impact on the industry.
HUD is preparing to review its current regulation of manufactured housing and has requested public input. The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a February 26 letter to HUD, said manufactured housing offers the agency with opportunities to help meet the nation's affordable housing needs and urged it to take a more flexible regulatory approach.
