ECONOMIC NEWS

Bloomberg
Housing Starts in U.S. Climbed to Four-Month High in February

The number of compact townhouses being constructed rose by 13% last year The American Dream of owning your own home remains. But the home itself appears to have gotten smaller.

 

Marketwatch
Here are the 'sweet spots' in the housing market

In such a tight housing market, it can help to think outside the box — or the neighborhood.

 

The New York Times
Fed Raises Interest Rates for Third Time Since Financial Crisis

The Federal Reserve which raised its benchmark rate on Wednesday for the second time in three months, this time to a range between .75 and one percent is finally moving to the end of its nine year old economic stimulus campaign which began in the depths of the financial crisis.

 

CNBC
Home builder confidence soared to highest level in 12 years as Trump rolls back regulations

The nation's home builders couldn't be happier with President Trump's first move to roll back strict environmental rules.

 

Fortune
2 Ways the Fed Could Crush the Housing Market Recovery

There's no doubt the Federal Reserve's low interest rates have helped the housing market recover from its 2007 bust.

 

The Wall Street Journal
Where Cheap Housing Meets Good Jobs --- Seattle contrasts favorably with the Bay Area in affordability and opportunity

Workers searching for a place to live that offers a good combination of career opportunities and affordable housing are finding the best options aren't always the most obvious. (Subscription may be required.)

 

HOUSING FINANCE

USA Today
'A bad idea': More new mortgages are risky ones

Riskier borrowers are making up a growing share of new mortgages, pushing up delinquencies modestly and raising concerns about an eventual spike in defaults that could slow or derail the housing recovery.

 

The Washington Post
For many millennials, FHA is the place to go for a home mortgage

The Trump administration may not be fond of FHA-insured mortgages — in one of his first official actions, the president canceled a cut in fees for new loan applicants — but millennial home buyers apparently are big fans.

 

The Wall Street Journal 
Goldman Sachs Goes on Buying Binge for Delinquent Mortgages

In a strange reverberation of the housing crisis, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has become a voracious buyer of soured mortgages, trying to make money even as it looks to fulfill terms of a government settlement that calls for it to help struggling homeowners. (Subscription may be required.)

IMMIGRATION REFORM

CBS Moneywatch
Fewer immigrants could mean fewer new homes

For Stephan Sardone, owner of a Dallas-based home remodeling company, "a day without immigrants" last month meant a day without one of his subcontractors on a job in the city's affluent Preston Hollow neighborhood.
 

GSEs

 

The New York Times
Trump's Plan on Fannie and Freddie? Clues May Emerge Soon

Fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants that still operate under government supervision, is nowhere near the top of the Trump administration's to-do list. Since the election, administration officials, including Steven T. Mnuchin, the United States Treasury secretary, have said little about their plans for the companies.

 

TAX REFORM

USA Today
Small firms seek level playing field in tax reform

There's been much talk from President Trump about lowering corporate tax rates. But where does that leave the smaller companies that employ nearly half of non-public sector American workers?