Silicon Valley Still Reigns Supreme for Hottest Housing Markets, but the South Will Heat Up in 2019

San Jose claims the top spot for the second straight year, but Southern markets with growing tech economies make up half of the top-10 list of the hottest housing markets this year

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http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-01-15-Silicon-Valley-Still-Reigns-Supreme-for-Hottest-Housing-Markets-but-the-South-Will-Heat-Up-in-2019

MBA Revives Income Verification During Govt Shutdown; Rates Unchanged

At least one part of the shutdown is over as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced it has resumed its Income Verification Express Service (IVES.) The service, which provides tax transcripts essential for processing mortgage applications for non-W-2 wage earners, was shut down, along with many federal government services, on December 21 and its workers were furloughed. The Mortgage Bankers Association took credit for the turnaround , saying it was its "successful advocacy" that got the IRS to restart the program. Robert Broeksmit, president and CEO of MBA said he took the appeal directly to Craig Phillips, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Broeksmit said he told Phillips "Look, this is staring to be a problem for the lending industry," and asked, "Could you make these

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http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/1/14/3733

Multifamily 2019 Outlook

In our research, we find that performance in the multifamily market remained healthy during 2018, despite high levels of new supply entering the market. We expect this trend to continue into 2019, but with more modest growth in comparison to recent year. More

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http://www.freddiemac.com/research/forecast/20190114_outlook.html?attr=rssEHR

Zillow Offers Launches in Raleigh; Home Sellers Can Now Request Cash Offer from Zillow

With the opening of its second North Carolina market today, Zillow Offers is now available in six markets in the U.S.

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http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-01-14-Zillow-Offers-Launches-in-Raleigh-Home-Sellers-Can-Now-Request-Cash-Offer-from-Zillow

How ATR/QM Has Changed Lending; Rates Lower Today; Does Inflation Still Matter?

Mortgage rates improved today, breaking a 3-day streak with effectively no change. This gets us part of the way back down to the long-term lows achieved at the end of last week. At that time, the average lender was quoting conventional 30yr fixed rates that were roughly 5/8ths of a percentage point (0.625%) lower than the long-term highs seen at the beginning of November. Rates then lurched higher by Tuesday of this week, eroding as much as a quarter of a point from some scenarios. Today's gains restored about half of that weakness for a net improvement of 0.5% from November's highs. At any time before last week, today's rates would be the lowest since April 2018. The swiftness with which those lows were achieved led some investors to worry about a swift bounce back. But it seems that as long

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http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/1/11/3729

Credit Access Takes a Hit as HARP Expires; Rates Stay Flat, But Could Follow Stocks Higher

Credit availability suffered an unusually large decline in December. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) fell 7.3 percent to 175.0 in December (it was 188.8 in November.) A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening. The MCAI has two major components and the loss in availability came entirely from the Conventional Index which decreased by 14.5 percent. The Government MCAI inched up by 0.1 percent. The Conventional MCAI itself has two components and both were down, the Jumbo MCAI by 14.9 percent and the Conforming by 14.0 percent. MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan said. "The supply of credit dropped in December to its lowest since February 2017. The decline was driven by

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http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/1/10/3727

Mortgage Apps Surge; Shutdown's Effect on Housing; Rates Level Off

While the report also looks at how the recent dip in interest rates may impact the demand for refinancing, the main theme of the November 2018 Mortgage Monitor is the shifting origination market. Black Knight's report notes that the first three quarters of 2018 produced the most purchase-dominated market in 18 years. Of the 4.8 million mortgages originated, about 63 percent were purchase originations, the largest percentage since 2000 when purchase originations accounted for about three-quarters of the total, and the rising trend is expected to continue. Even as refinancing has declined, the share of those loans has also been shifting. Steadily moving from rate/term driven demand to cash-out. Only 8.6 percent of all originations in the first nine months of last year were the former, the lowest

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http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2019/1/9/3725