With vacations over and the holidays coming fast, home buying is beginning to slow down. So, given all of the predictions for 2016 (including mine), let's review the better part of the 2016 home-buying season and see what we've learned, with an eye toward 2017.
The Wall Street Journal
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More Americans leave expensive metro areas for affordable ones
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Americans are leaving the costliest metro areas for more affordable parts of the country at a faster rate than they are being replaced, according to an analysis of census data, reflecting the impact of housing costs on domestic migration patterns. (Subscription may be required.)
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MarketWatch
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Residential building can't keep pace with Seattle's surging job market
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Surveying the dozens of towering cranes growing into Seattle's skyline, one might wonder if there's a housing boom that will eventually crash as it did in the last Seattle real estate downturn. It's a reasonable reaction for an untrained observer, but it's also a dangerous one for the region's ability to plan for accommodating smart growth.
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The New York Times
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Last pre-election jobs report shows healthy growth and higher wages
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The government, delivering the last major snapshot of the economy before Election Day, reported on Friday that employers added 161,000 workers in October, a performance that suggested a healthy outlook for the months ahead.
Housing Finance
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American Banker
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How Crapo would lead banking panel if GOP keeps Senate
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If Republicans manage to keep a Senate majority following the elections next week, control of the banking panel will likely go to Sen. Mike Crapo, a right-of-center Idaho lawmaker who has proven willing to reach across the political aisle in the past. (Subscription may be required.)
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National Mortgage News
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How Brown would run the banking panel if Democrats win Senate
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If Democrats succeed in winning control of the Senate after next week's election, the gavel of the Senate Banking Committee is likely to fall to Sen. Sherrod Brown, a progressive from Ohio who has called on the biggest banks to hold significantly more capital. (Subscription may be required.)
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Mortgage News
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The Wall Street Journal
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Banks no longer make the bulk of U.S. mortgages
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Banks no longer reign over the U.S. mortgage market. They accounted for less than half of the mortgage dollars extended to borrowers during the third quarter -- the first quarter that banks, credit unions and other depository institutions have fallen below that threshold in more than 30 years, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Taking their place are nonbank lenders more willing to make riskier loans banks now shun. (Subscription may be required.)
GSEs
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The Washington Post
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Is it time to start worrying about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac again?
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Four years ago, the Treasury changed its agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and began taking for itself all the profits made by the two companies, which had been placed in government conservatorship in 2008. As part of the 2012 changes, both companies' capital is being gradually reduced and will reach zero at the end of 2017.
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The Wall Street Journal
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Freddie Mac to send $2.3 billion dividend to Treasury
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Mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac on Tuesday said it would send a $2.3 billion dividend payment to the U.S. Treasury, after posting a sharp profit increase in its latest quarter. (Subscription may be required.)
Flood Plan
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