Real Estate

 

• Fed’s Mortgage-Backed Securities Purchases Sought Calm, Accommodation During Pandemic

  We explore the Federal Reserve’s purchases of agency MBS—mortgage bonds guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—and related market dynamics during the pandemic, including why mortgage rates fell to historic lows.

  August 26, 2021

• Surging House Prices Expected to Propel Rent Increases, Push Up Inflation

  The inflation rates of rent and owners’ equivalent rent (OER)—the amount of rent equivalent to the cost of ownership—have declined sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic began in February 2020. However, we expect rent inflation and OER inflation to accelerate in the years to come.

  August 24, 2021

• Private Subprime Mortgages Challenged FHA During 2000s Housing Boom

  Considerable research has been devoted to better understanding the meteoric rise of the PLS subprime mortgage market in the early-to-mid 2000s. But an important aspect has been largely ignored: The simultaneous decline in mortgage originations with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance.

  May 11, 2021

• COVID-19 Exposes Mortgage Market Vulnerabilities that Led to Volatility, Fed Intervention

  The COVID-19-induced financial market shock in March 2020 significantly disrupted the market for agency mortgage-backed securities.

  February 02, 2021

• Does Homeownership Provide an Escape from High Rent Burdens?

  Many first-time homebuyers—often with little savings and vulnerable to economic shocks—obtain their mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan program. Often, these borrowers are moving from apartments and have presumably weighed the costs of renting versus owning.

  January 05, 2021

• Southwest Economy, Fourth Quarter 2020

  COVID-19 Fuels Sudden, Surging Demand for Suburban Housing

  Pandemic-related actions have helped propel a sudden, large shift from renting to homeownership and a concurrent movement to the suburbs and larger homes.

  December 21, 2020

• Highly Indebted FHA Borrowers at Special Risk as COVID-19 Forbearance Ends

  The situation appears most urgent for those borrowers who entered the crisis with a high debt load and little room to financially navigate without forbearance.

  September 29, 2020

• Ability to Repay a Mortgage: Assessing the Relationship Between Default, Debt-to-Income

  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced that it intends to change the definition of a “qualified mortgage.” Specifically, the CFPB proposes to reconsider the use of a borrower's debt-to-income ratio as a measure of the ability to repay a loan.

  March 24, 2020

• The Long Road to Housing Finance Reform: 'Are We There Yet?'

  Over the past decade, broad-based legislative reforms for housing finance have proven elusive. However, reflecting lessons from the financial crisis, a political consensus has emerged on how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should operate.

  February 04, 2020

• After the Bust, the Long Road to Housing Finance Reform

  The Treasury recently released a plan proposing several administrative and legislative changes aimed at returning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private sector after more than a decade of federal control.

  January 14, 2020