HousingWire Daily

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire covers an announcement from the Intercontinental Exchange that it has received regulatory approval and fully completed its $11 billion acquisition.For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:  Nearly one month after Ellie Mae announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Intercontinental Exchange, ICE announced Friday that it had received regulatory approval and fully completed its $11 billion acquisition. “We are excited to begin the next important chapter in our journey to digitize the residential mortgage industry,” said Jeff Sprecher, founder, chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange. “Ellie Mae’s industry leadership and best-of-breed technology will better enable us to further accelerate the automation of the mortgage origination workflow, which will benefit stakeholders across the production chain, including consumers.”Per the announcement, the transaction values Ellie Mae at an enterprise value of $11 billion – three times the all-cash transaction of $3.7 billion private equity shop Thoma Bravo spent acquiring it a little over a year ago.Following the main story, HousingWire covers the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s seventh settlement against a mortgage broker for deceptive advertisements targeting VA borrowers, and data from the National Association of Homebuilders that indicates a spike in lumber prices is now driving construction costs much higher. The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode:·      With $11B Ellie Mae deal finalized, ICE prepares to unleash a “fully digital mortgage ecosystem”·      CFPB settles with seventh company for misleading ads targeting veterans·      Spike in lumber prices boosts construction costs

Today’s Daily Download episode features an interview with Aaron Davis, CEO of Florida Agency Network, one of Florida’s largest RON providers. In this episode, HousingWire examines a recent article that delves into one key component that is hindering RON adoption. Davis discusses how RON adoption has changed in the era of COVID-19, what it will take for increased RON and eNote adoption in the secondary market and how RON has transformed the borrower experience overall.Ramirez’s article is part of our HW+ premium membership community. When you go to sign up, use the code “hwpluspodcast100” to get $100 off your annual membership.For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article: As it turns out, state regulations, while a major factor, are not the greatest holdup to universal acceptance of RON. In fact, over the past year COVID-19 has spurred many states to rush through emergency bills allowing for the use of RON.No, the greatest holdup actually lies in the hands of lenders: eNotes.Traditionally, promissory notes are wet signed. They are the “golden ticket” when it comes to mortgage transactions and without it, the deal wouldn’t exist. It is the legal note where one party in the transaction promises in writing to pay a fixed amount of money to another party under specific terms.There were instances in 2008, for example, where if the note was lost or stored away in a bank’s basement, lenders couldn’t foreclose on a property until the note was located. Notes can’t be sold unless they are physically located.But RON can turn this promissory note digital, and that changes everything.The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: This is the single greatest factor standing in the way of RON The pandemic transformed real estate closings, but will digital adoption stick?

Today’s Daily Download episode features an interview with Latham Jenkins, associate broker at Live Water Jackson Hole. In this episode, HousingWire digs deeper into a recent article that indicates mountain towns like Aspen, Colorado and Jackson Hole, Wyoming are heating up, as home buyers flee to luxury mountain towns.During the podcast interview, Jenkins discusses the ongoing migration trend he’s seen in Jackson Hole. According to Jenkins, the urban flight to mountain towns began years ago, and was essentially accelerated due to the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Jenkins added that variables like densely populated cities, tax structures and working remotely have been driving factors in prompting people to seek out housing markets in mountain towns.Jenkins, who has lived in the Jackson Hole for more than 25 years, said he’s never seen this level of demand in his region before, stemming primarily from buyers he’s coined as “COVID refugees.”"They're fleeing an urban market and coming here desiring to buy places that have elbow room and generally speaking, buying single-family properties with acreage,” Jenkins said. “When you look at what has happened since June 1 in our market, over 109 listings have either gotten closed or are pending that are worth $3 million or more at an average price of $5.5 million.”Though it’s unclear what this level of demand means for the future in the region’s housing inventory at large, Jenkins said he’ll continue responding to market demand.“We went into this being in an inventory shortage, and COVID only exacerbated that as well, so what's left? Well, a lot of pressure on pricing as we look forward,” Jenkins said. “I think that Jackson Hole will continue to see a lot of upward pricing pressure with very low inventory, and a demand that just continues."The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported by the HousingWire newsroom team. 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode:As homebuyers flee to luxury mountain towns, local housing markets are heating up

Today’s Daily Download episode features an interview with HousingWire Lead Analyst, Logan Mohtashami. In this episode, Mohtashami provides an update on an article he wrote in April, which lists the five economic and/or social landmarks that we would need to pass that helps the industry better understand the recovery and how the housing market is performing.Mohtashami’s article is part of our HW+ premium membership community. Use the code hwpluspodcast100 to get $100 off your annual membership. For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article: The fiscal calendar, a mainstay of marking economic activity has served little purpose in COVID America. Where it once provided a structure by which to analyze balance sheets and economic trends, in these virus-directed times, it has become a vestigial anomaly like the little toe or the appendix of the human body.In order to understand the economic performance of various sectors during these times, we need to abide by the dictates of the virus. For this reason, I divided 2020 into this economic-timeline into three phases: Before COVID (BC), After the onset of the Disease (AD), and America is Back (AB).In a previous article, I wrote about five economic and/or social landmarks that we would need to pass in order to determine that we had exited the AD phase and entered the AB recovery phase. This serves as a report card on that recovery with a final word about the U.S. housing market.The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: Housing's V-shaped recovery is complete: What had to happen to get America back by Sept. 1 5 indicators that will show when the housing market is rebounding from COVID-19

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire discusses the projected costs insurers will have to pay for damages that property owners endured from Hurricane Laura last week. For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:Insurers will have to fork over billions of dollars to pay for damage that property owners incurred from Hurricane Laura last week.Data and analytics provider CoreLogic estimated that residential and commercial property damage in Louisiana and Texas could come in anywhere between $8 billion and $12 billion, with the vast majority of the damage coming in Louisiana.The storm, the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the northwestern gulf in more than 150 years, will also hurt homeowners’ ability to pay for their mortgage.Following the main story, HousingWire covers the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly forbearance volume survey and the MBA’s and Structured Finance Associations’ comments on the Federal Housing Financing Agency’s proposed rule for a new regulatory capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: Hurricane Laura wallops areas with high mortgage delinquency rates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac forbearance rate falls to a 4-month low MBA, SFA comment FHFA's proposed new regulatory capital framework

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire covers Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden’s proposed $15,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:Former Vice President Joe Biden has proposed a $15,000 tax credit to help first-time homebuyers purchase a property. As is typical for campaign proposals from either party, the details remain to be fleshed out. And before any tax credit would be put in place, it would have to be hashed out in a bill passed by Congress, which controls U.S. tax policy.Biden’s proposal, as explained on his campaign website, is: “Help families buy their first homes and build wealth by creating a new refundable, advanceable tax credit of up to $15,000. Biden’s new First Down Payment Tax Credit will help families offset the costs of home buying and help millions of families lay down roots for the first time.”In some ways, it’s similar to the $7,500 tax credit created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act signed by President George W. Bush in July 2008. The credit was raised to $8,000 the following year in a bill signed by President Barack Obama. The programs expired in 2010.Following the main story, HousingWire covers what lenders are doing about refinance loans that were already locked with closing dates after Sept. 1 since the Federal Housing Finance Agency delayed the adverse-market refinance fee. The podcast also discusses why sales of large homes are skyrocketing as homeowners seek out more space.The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: Biden's $15,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit explained Refi fee is delayed, but what are lenders doing about already locked loans? Sales of large homes skyrocket as homeowners seek more space

Today’s Daily Download episode features an interview with James Kleimann, HousingWire’s newest mortgage editor. In his new role, Kleimann will be helping HousingWire’s newsroom cover topics related to housing finance as well as real estate, appraisal, title and escrow and more. Kleimann got his start as a reporter right out of college in Burlington, Vermont covering cops and crime. After moving back to his home state of New Jersey, Kleimann held various roles across different news outlets, eventually landing at The Real Deal where he most recently served as managing web editor. “HousingWire is the leading publication for housing professionals, and has a rich history of producing great journalism,” said Kleimann. “But its ambitions are so much greater than that. I’m beyond thrilled to work with Clayton, Diego, Sarah and the rest of the editorial staff to dig even deeper into the mortgage space and break into new subjects during this exciting, uncertain time.”Kleimann added that he's excited to bring his knowledge on a lot of other components of real estate to this mortgage editor position  As mortgage editor, Kleimann will be covering the ups and downs in the housing industry, as well as watching trends in the real estate market. One area of focus Kleimann said he’s looking forward to is coverage on mortgage brokers.“This is such a pivotal player in the housing market, and one that was really pilloried during the housing crisis of 2008 and nearly driven to extinction,” Kleimann said. “And now, they're back in a pretty big way.” Kleimann said he wants to look into how the mortgage broker has evolved, examine how they've adapt to changes in technology and how they've improved their reputation with customers.In the interview, Kleimann also touches on topics like the coastal exodus, his recent article on Realtor.com’s flood risk disclosures and how new emerging trends like migration will impact realtors and brokers.The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported by the HousingWire newsroom team. 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 WickhamHousingWire articles covered in this episode: James Kleimann of The Real Deal joins HousingWire Are cities really seeing an exodus? Zillow says urban areas have more in common with suburbs than you think A coastal exodus? These Century 21 San Francisco agents don't think so Realtor.com now discloses flood risks – Here's why its competitors won't

Today’s Daily Download episode features an interview with Greg McBride, Senior Vice President, and Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate.com. In this episode, McBride speaks with HousingWire about the recent postponement of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s adverse-market refinance fee.Earlier this week, McBride sent a statement to the HousingWire newsroom following the announcement of the fee’s postponement:“The Federal Housing Finance Agency has decided to postpone implementation of the much-criticized Adverse Market Refinance Fee until December 1, and exempted refinances for loan amounts under $125,000,” McBride said. “While not as good as repealing it altogether, this is certainly better than the caper they pulled when they initially announced it without any advance notice.”During the podcast interview, McBride delves into why he believes the fee should be repealed as well as whether or not he thinks implementing the new loan-level price adjustment will benefit homebuyers and lenders.According to McBride, the fee may discourage homebuyers from refinancing as it has the potential to add more than $1,000 to their closing costs."This is not an ancillary charge that nobody's going to notice, it's half a percentage point of the loan amount that's being refinanced," he said. "While it may make great financial sense for consumers to refinance, they tend to balk for two reasons. One is that there are so many fees involved and the second is the cumbersome process.""While I don't know if the process will be altered, from a fee standpoint, it's sometimes a tough sell to consumers as people are often reluctant to incur upfront costs," he said. "So,  when you add another layer on top of that, my concern is that it will only further deter people from refinancing when they could otherwise benefit from doing so."The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported by the HousingWire newsroom team. 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 WickhamHousingWire articles covered in this episode: New fee on mortgage refinances could cost homeowners $1,400 MBA President “stunned” by the FHFA’s new mortgage refinance fee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs address industry on refinance fee grievances FHFA delays refinance fee start date to Dec. 1

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire covers the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s recent announcement to postpone the implementation date of the adverse market refinance fee.For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday it is postponing the date it will begin implementing its adverse market refinance fee to Dec. 1.The FHFA directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to delay the implementation date of their adverse market refinance fee after it was previously scheduled to take effect Sept. 1, 2020.FHFA is also announcing that the enterprises will exempt refinance loans with loan balances below $125,000, nearly half of which are comprised of lower-income borrowers at or below 80% of area median income. Affordable refinance products Home Ready and Home Possible, are also exempt.After Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced an added 50 basis point fee to all refinances, the housing industry was quick to react. In fact, the industry quickly turned against Fannie and Freddie’s added fee.The Mortgage Bankers Association was one of the strongest voices in opposition to the new fee, saying, in part, “The additional 0.5% fee on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance mortgages will raise costs for families trying to make ends meet in these challenging times. In addition, the September 1 effective date means that thousands of borrowers who did not lock in their rates could face unanticipated cost increases just days from closing.”Following the main story, HousingWire covers why Black-owned businesses have been hit hardest by COVID-19, and a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association that indicates mortgage applications fell 6.5% last week, despite mortgage rates hovering around 3%. The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: FHFA delays refinance fee start date to Dec. 1 Why Black-owned businesses have been hit hardest by COVID-19 Mortgage applications fall 6.5% as rates hover around 3%

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire covers a survey that indicates the nation’s economists now believe  America is likely to experience a double-dip recession.For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:Almost 80% of economists say there’s at least a one-in-four chance of a double-dip recession, following a record 32.9% plunge in GDP in the second quarter, according to a survey released on Monday from the National Association for Business Economics.About 40% of respondents rate the COVID-19 response from Congress as “insufficient” and 37% said it’s “adequate,” according to the survey that summarized the opinions of 235 members and was conducted between late July and early August.“The panel is split in its view on Congress’s fiscal response to the recession,” said NABE President Constance Hunter, who is KPMG’s chief economist. “Nearly three out of four panelists believe the optimal size for the next fiscal package to be $1 trillion or greater, compared to 17% who favor a smaller package.”Following the main story, HousingWire covers the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Forbearance and Call Volume Survey that shows the rate has fallen once again, and a letter addressed to Congress from a  broad coalition of housing organizations that encourages protections for renters and property owners.The Daily Download 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.HousingWire articles covered in this episode: 80% of economists see a chance of a double-dip recession Forbearance rate falls to 7.2%, MBA says Broad coalition of housing organizations urge Congress to start protecting renters and property owners