Power House

This week, Simone Beaty, the director of single-family affordable lending initiatives  Freddie Mac, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss the GSE’s affordable housing initiatives, as well as what it is doing to prepare consumers for next year’s home buying market.During the interview, Beaty also discusses how Freddie Mac is supporting shared equity programs as many Americans continue to face financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Here is a small preview of the interview with Simone Beaty. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:HW: What are some of the very unique challenges in making sure affordable housing is available for low- to moderate-income borrowers who have been affected by the COVID crisis?Simone Beaty: What we always bump into is that demand for units has outpaced supply. So, we're always trying to figure out how we can best deal with the supply issue and access to credit. We try to tackle both and sometimes solutions can be merged, where we are looking at flexible qualifying requirements that take into account things like nontraditional credit. We also make sure people who are not mortgage ready understand what steps they need to take to be prepared, so they are not blindly applying for a loan. Additionally, Freddie Mac offers some flexibilities for borrowers that may not meet the traditional credit profile, so if they're not necessarily the cookie-cutter kind of creditworthy borrower, there is enough room in the qualifying requirements that give lenders the ability to make sure they can fit within the conventional lending realm.The Housing News podcast explores the most important topics happening in mortgage, real estate and fintech. Each week a new mortgage or real estate executive joins the show to add perspective to the top stories crossing HousingWire’s news desk. Hosted by Sarah Wheeler and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.

This week, Frank Nothaft, the chief economist at CoreLogic, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss how the housing market has fared in 2020.During the interview, Nothaft discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the housing market’s vitality as well as the economy. Notably, Nothaft also offers his market predictions for 2021.Here is a small preview of the interview with Frank Nothaft. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:HW: Let’s talk about CoreLogic’s Forecast. What are you expecting for the first quarter and first half of 2021?Frank Nothaft: We’re expecting mortgage rates to remain at record low levels, possibly well below 3%. I think that's going to be the case, not only at the start of the year but for most or all of 2021. That's going to be very important in stimulating home sales, and also refinance volume. However, I'm not expecting refinance volume in 2021 to hit the same numbers that we saw in 2020, but I think it's still going to be pretty strong. In fact, I actually expect refinance volume in 2021 to be more than it was in 2019. On the home sales market, we're actually expecting home sales to be up in 2021 compared to 2020. It will be because of new single-family construction and increases in existing home sales. Notably, over the last several months, we've had an acute shortage of existing homes for sale in the United States. Part of that acute shortage of inventory for sale is directly related to the pandemic.The HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Victoria Wickham.

This week, Robert Broeksmit, the president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss the association's regulatory priorities for 2021 and what goals it hopes to achieve under a Biden administration.During the interview, Broeksmit also discusses what could happen if the Biden administration replaces Kathy Kraninger, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.According to Broeksmit, if a new director is appointed, outside of mortgage regulation, they’re likely to focus on policies related to fair lending and affordable housing.“I'd first like to say the MBA is very grateful for the tenure of Director Kraninger,” Broeksmit said. “We've worked very closely with her and think she's done a really good job at the bureau.”“If she is replaced, we think there are a lot of areas outside of mortgage lending that the CFPB will focus on because it has a very wide scope, it's not just mortgages,” Broeksmit said. “There were things the current administration decided not to focus on that I think a Biden appointee would have more interest in pursuing like student loan servicing, regulating debt collectors and payday lending regulations.”Broeksmit also addresses the Biden administration’s housing agenda and what it means for affordable housing.“President Biden wants to introduce a $15,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, but unless lightning strikes twice in Georgia and Republicans lose both runoffs, I think we'll have a divided government where a proposal like that won't get much traction,” Broeksmit said. “While the MBA is generally supportive of something like that, we don't think the chances are very high.”The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Freddie Mac.

This week, Cindy Waldron, the vice president of research and analytics at Freddie Mac, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss affordability and the trends Freddie sees in different areas of the country.In this episode, Waldron explains how the nation’s lack of housing inventory is affecting low to moderate-income borrowers, as well as how COVID-19 will impact the homeownership dreams of Americans who may be struggling finically due to the pandemic. During the interview, Waldron also addresses the unique affordability challenges facing American renters, who have disproportionally been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.  According to her, while many renters are struggling, the pandemic has also stimulated homeownership desires for Millennials, many of who have indicated plans to become first-time homebuyers. “We are seeing [the pandemic] hit a lot of renters, but we are actually also seeing it stimulate some of these Millennials,” Waldron said. “A lot of [Millennials] were staying in place as interest rates remained low, but during COVID-19 we began to see them move to the next house as they wanted additional space.”Waldron says while the desire for homeownership persists amongst renters and Millennials, factors like dwindling housing inventory and home price increases are impacting their likeliness for affordability. “Our chief economist at Freddie Mac has predicted the 30-year fixed mortgage will be around 3% in 2021, so that's good news for affordability as these low rates will keep monthly payments down,” Waldron said. “However, house price growth, which was around 5% to 6% in 2020, has been more challenging as COVID-19 has led a lot of people to want more space, which is adding to demand. So, this is also adding pressure towards affordability and even the housing stock.”“In 2021, we expect the rate per house price growth to be 2.6%, so that should help a little bit, but it's not growing as fast as the 5% to 6% [In 2020],” Waldron said. “That said, again, the housing shortage is going to be very challenging, and building new housing during COVID-19 is going to be hard.”

This week, Thomvest Ventures’ Nima Wedlake joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss the housing market’s real estate ecosystem as well as Opendoor’s S-4 filing, which now values the company at $4.8B.During the interview, Wedlake touches on his recent blog that examines Opendoor’s business practices, its progress to date, and its future prospects. He also discusses why so many companies in the housing space are now choosing to go public.For some background on Banosian, here’s a summary of HousingWire’s  article on the S-4 filing:Opendoor has officially filed its announcement to go public after announcing its merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II in September. But the filing also revealed that Opendoor is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission over its advertising practices.According to the filing, Opendoor in 2019 received a civil investigative demand. Inman first reported on the investigation, which was disclosed in the company’s S-4 statement.As of Oct. 1, the investigation is ongoing, the filing says.Opendoor has been busy over the last few months. As of Aug. 18, Opendoor has resumed iBuying in all 21 of its markets following a pause due to COVID-19. In the filing, Opendoor said “we are just scratching the surface today. We believe we have a massive opportunity to expand our to reach the top 100 markets in the United States.”For much of 2020, government edicts related to the pandemic had a dramatic effect on Opendoor’s business. In the first half of 2020, Opendoor said it sold 7,832 homes, compared to 8,985 homes in the first half of 2019, representing a decrease of 13%.Overall, Opendoor made $1.9 billion in revenue in the first six months of 2020, slightly below the $2.2 billion from the first six months of 2019. Overall, Opendoor posted a net loss of $118 million from January through June 2020.The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Freddie Mac.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: Opendoor discloses that it’s under federal investigation Blackstone-owned lender and servicer Finance of America to go public Caliber Home Loans plans $2B-plus IPO United Wholesale Mortgage plans $16B public debut via acquisition

This week, Guaranteed Rate’s Shant Banosian, the nation’s No. 1 loan originator, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss how he became the company’s first loan officer to fund $1 billion in loan volume in one year, as well as the future of the U.S mortgage market.During the interview, Banosian explains how he’s generated more than $4 billion in loans over the course of his decade-long career, as well as how Guaranteed Rate weathered the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.For some background on Banosian, here’s a summary of HousingWire’s latest  article on his achievement:Over the last five years, Shant has been Guaranteed Rate’s No. 1 loan officer nationwide, as well as the top producer in Massachusetts since 2013.Banosian told HousingWire that the key to his success is his team, and focusing on what consumers need and want.“It’s one of those cliches: you don’t want to just work in the business, you need to work on the business,” Banosian said. “We’re constantly working on our business and taking feedback from our clients trying to understand what it is that our clients and our partners want, how to constantly be forward-thinking in terms of staying ahead of the competition and figuring out ways to be more efficient.”Not only are Banosian and his team having a record-setting year, so is Guaranteed Rate, as it funded double the total loan volume compared to the same time last year. Just in August, the company locked down $12 billion in loan volume, breaking its record for one month.The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Freddie Mac.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: Shant Banosian becomes Guaranteed Rate’s first LO to originate $1 billion 2020 HW Tech100 Mortgage winner: Guaranteed Rate

This week, Housing Policy Council President and former Federal Housing Finance Agency Interim Director Ed DeMarco, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss the future of U.S housing regulation as well as what the November presidential election could mean for the housing market. In this episode, DeMarco discusses what lies ahead for the economy and the housing market once the forbearance period, which was implemented by The CARES Act and gave finically struggling mortgage borrowers the right to suspended payments without penalties for up to 12 months, comes to an end.During the interview, DeMarco also addresses the unique challenges facing the FHFA as the agency continues to navigate COVID-19’s impact on the overall industry.  According to him, the FHFA will need to balance the uncertainties arising from both the pandemic and the policies that have been enacted to protect lenders and homeowners. “Yeah, so FHFA has got an interesting challenge,” DeMarco said. “They have to balance the uncertainties arising from the pandemic and all of the many steps that have been taken in response to the pandemic, with the longer-term goals that Director Calabria has been quite clear about in regard to wanting to end the conservatorships.”“So, you know, that's an interesting and difficult balance they have right now,” He said. “I expect this is out of the minds of the director and his staff, but of course, many other folks are awaiting the election to see what it all means.”The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Freddie Mac.Here are links to the topics discussed:·      An end to Fannie, Freddie conservatorship by 2022?·      FHFA moves closer to ending conservatorship, issues new rule on allowing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to build capital·      Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announce underwriting advisers·      Lawmakers ask Calabria to rethink adverse-market fee·      Calabria does not expect widespread delinquencies due to coronavirus

This week, Robert Dietz, the chief economist and senior vice president of economics and housing policy at the National Association of Home Builders, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss how the nation’s homebuilders have fared during the COVID-19 pandemic.In this episode, Dietz discusses how a national shortage of housing inventory and rising lumber prices have contributed to an increase in construction costs, which is making it much harder for builders to introduce affordable supply to the housing market.The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Sarah Wheeler. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Freddie Mac. 

This week, the Housing News Podcast kicks off Season 4 with HousingWire’s Editor-in-Chief, Sarah wheeler as its new host.In the first episode of the season, Odeta Kushi, the deputy chief economist at First American Financial Corporation, discusses her economic outlook for 2020, as well as her forecasting approach for the COVID-19 pandemic.Notably, the duo also discusses how low mortgage rates, high unemployment and forbearance requests will impact the housing industry in 2021.For some background on the interview:During the interview, Kushi discusses what indicators First American was watching during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they have impacted the overall market. “We wanted to know what would really impact the housing market, and that is obviously the labor market,” Kushi said. “So, we looked at high frequency data like initial jobless claimsto gauge how badly the pandemic, shelter in placeand the shutdown would impact the labor market. We also analyzed mortgage applicationsto see how demand is being impacted in real time, and then of course, we looked at monthly indicators like homebuilding.”The economist also discusses what the Federal Reserve’s shift in monetary policy could mean for the housing industry this year and next.“I think for all fields, this is going to be a huge learning experience, specifically for economics as we'll be able to look back and see the impact of the Federal Reserve stimulus, a lot of which was unprecedented,” Kushi said. “We’ll also be able to play out scenarios and utilize current data as a tool for future economic decline, and I think that will be really helpful.”The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Freddie Mac. Here are links to the topics discussed: Fed’s new inflation policy may lead to higher mortgage rates Average mortgage rate falls to 2.91%: Freddie Mac

This week, the Housing News Podcast features a bonus crossover episode from HousingWire’s Daily Download.In this episode, Mortgage Marketing Radio’s Geoff Zimpfer and HousingWire columnist Logan Mohtashami discuss why the U.S. housing market is winning in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact.For some background on the interview, here’s a brief summary of Mohtashami’s latest HousingWire column:The U.S. economy started the year off in an expansionary mode. Retail sales were positive year over year, job openings were roughly at 7 million and the housing data for the first time in a long time started to outperform other sectors of the economy. Existing and new home sales hit cycle highs, purchase application data showed steady double-digit year over year growth and housing starts had almost 40% year over year growth in February. Then we were hit with COVID-19, and the fear of this virus along with the economic decline due to the stay-at-home orders whipped the housing bubble boys into a frenzy of crash calls.My long-standing core thesis has been that the housing market would have the weakest recovery from a crash in the years 2008 to 2019, but it would improve in years 2020-2024 because U.S. demographics would become favorable for housing. This is the time frame where we should see 1.5 million total housing starts and the purchase application index will get over 300. The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins. Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Arch MI and Quicken Loans Mortgage Services.