ECONOMIC NEWS

HousingWire

Fannie Mae: Consumer housing optimism rebounds in April

Many consumers grew more optimistic about the housing in April, rebounding from March's dip in confidence, according to the Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index.

The Wall Street Journal
Workers and wood squeeze housing market

Shares of U.S. home builders have had a nice run since the election, driven by healthy profits and rising confidence. That sweet spot is likely over, and the shift will put a damper on the overall housing market. (Subscription may be required.)

CNN Money
Good luck buying a home in this hot housing market

It's going to be a tough house hunting season for buyers, but it's particularly brutal for those in Seattle.

The Wall Street Journal

Generation of Renters Now Buying

First-time buyers are rushing to buy homes after a decade on the sidelines, promising to kick a housing market already flush with luxury sales into higher gear. (Subscription may be required.)

 

HOUSING FINANCE REFORM

 

The Wall Street Journal
Trump administration, senators put Fannie, Freddie overhaul back in play

The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators are working to address an issue that has gone unresolved for nearly a decade: how to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance giants the government took over in 2008. (Subscription may be required.)

 

Washington Examiner
Fixing Fannie and Freddie won't be any easier for the Trump team

Despite bold talk from Republicans, the political obstacles to reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain nearly as steep as they have been throughout the eight years that the firms have been in the government's hands.

 

MarketWatch
Fed's Rosengren warns that Fannie, Freddie reform could roil commercial real-estate market

Efforts to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could lead to "a potential and significant shock" to the commercial real-estate sector, said Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren on Tuesday.

 

American Banker
FHFA on collision course with Congress over Fannie, Freddie

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt appears poised for a showdown with Congress over how to handle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's dwindling capital buffers.Efforts to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could lead to "a potential and significant shock" to the commercial real-estate sector, said Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren on Tuesday. (Subscription may be required.)

 

LUMBER

 

Construction Dive
Round 1: What the latest Canadian lumber tariffs mean for US housing

For the past several months, the industry has been reeling over speculation about impending tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber and what they might mean for the housing industry.

 

The Washington Post
Jimmy Carter: Trump is right. Canada's lumber trade practices are unfair.

I agree with the recent decision of the White House and the Commerce Department to impose anti-subsidy duties against Canada's unfairly traded softwood lumber imports. This belated enforcement of U.S. trade laws will help millions of private timberland owners, American forestry workers and members of their local communities by leveling the playing field in the timber industry.

 

GSEs

 

HousingWire
Fannie, Freddie release official strategy to serve underserved markets

Monday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requested public input on the GSE's new proposed Underserved Markets Plans under the Duty to Serve program.

 

Bloomberg
Fannie-Freddie regulator warns he can't let capital fall to zero

The head of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's regulator warned that he can't take the risk of letting the companies run out of capital.

 

Marketwatch
Fannie and Freddie are nearly out of money and Washington is getting anxious

In 2008, as the financial crisis swirled, the federal government rushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship. The two giant mortgage-finance companies became wards of the state under a new regulator that would manage their affairs until they were healthy enough to stand on their own.

 

FORECLOSURE NEWS

The New York Times
Housing Regulator Is Pushed to Crack Down on Sales of Foreclosed Properties

Lawmakers are pressing the nation's housing regulator over the sale of thousands of foreclosed houses to investment firms that have pitched the promise of homeownership to people unable to get a traditional mortgage.Your mortgage may come with a bonus: credit-card reward points. Chase recently announced it will give 100,000 reward points, worth up to $1,500, to existing credit-card customers who take out a home loan with the bank between now and Aug. 6.

 

MORTGAGE NEWS

CNBC
The latest mortgage perk for millennials: Reward points

Your mortgage may come with a bonus: credit-card reward points. Chase recently announced it will give 100,000 reward points, worth up to $1,500, to existing credit-card customers who take out a home loan with the bank between now and Aug. 6.

 

LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT

The Denver Post
Affordable housing developers "fighting like crazy" to pencil out projects following drop in tax credit value

Affordable housing developers in Colorado are facing a new challenge that could stretch their limited funding resources even further and potentially impact the number of income-restricted units that can be built every year.

 

OSHA

Reveal News
OSHA tells companies to report injuries. There's no website for that yet

The nation's top workplace safety regulator has directed scores of companies to begin submitting their injury records, but with the impending deadline less than two months away, there is still no website set up for these workplaces to comply.

 

DODD-FRANK

Reuters
Trump review of Wall Street rules to be done in stages: sources

The U.S. government's review of a landmark 2010 financial reform law will not be complete by early June as originally targeted, and officials will now report findings piece-by-piece, with priority given to banking regulations, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.