A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Almost 30% of loans that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac packaged into bonds last year went to home buyers whose total debt payments amounted to more than 43% of their incomes, according to an analysis by industry research group Inside Mortgage Finance. The share has nearly doubled since 2015."

"The backing of these loans opens up a debate about the government’s role in the housing market. An obscure half-decade-old rule made these mortgages to buyers with high debt possible. The temporary provision expires at the beginning of 2021, or, should it happen first, when Fannie and Freddie revert to private control, following government sponsorship after the housing crisis."

"When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau introduced tighter mortgage-lending standards after the financial crisis, it deployed temporary measures to avoid cutting off some borrowers’ credit access. This exception was nicknamed the 'qualified mortgage patch' and allowed Fannie and Freddie to purchase high debt-to-income mortgages. The rule’s phaseout could upend the market, some in the industry warn."

"Fannie and Freddie have loaded up on loans with debt-to-income ratios above 43%, the typical cutoff for mortgage loans. The Urban Institute, a think tank, estimated that an additional 3.3 million mortgages were originated between 2014 and 2018 because of the patch."

"Some housing economists believe facilitating loans to borrowers who have a large proportion of debt has had deleterious effects on the broader housing market, such as by increasing demand to such an extent that it is artificially inflating home prices."

"'We have a huge shortage of housing,' said Ed Pinto, co-director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center. 'You can’t address that shortage by driving house prices up through leverage, which is what we’ve been doing.'"

From Patch Takoma Park in Maryland. "According to Trulia, the median price of a home in Takoma Park was $350,000. Since May 2014, median sales prices in the area have increased by about $160,000."

"'Because money is cheap, people are willing to borrow more,' Realtor Elliot Barber said, referring to the nearly 10-year stretch of low interest rates."

From Seattle PI on Washington. "Good news, buyers: The latest real estate report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service shows that more balance is returning to the local market. NWMLS statistics saw a 28.5% overall increase in active listings compared to April 2018."

"According to NWMLS, seven counties had double-digit growth in inventory from a year ago, led by King County, which reported a 78.5% growth, and Snohomish County (up nearly 57%). 'This year's buyers and sellers are approaching the market with more caution and a focus on an analytical, versus emotional approach that has ruled the last several years,' said NWMLS director John Deely."

The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. "After declining for 11 months, year-over-year home sales were essentially flat in April, according to the Carolina Multiple Listing Services. While it’s not a major shift, especially as the spring buying season is in full swing, it’s an improvement from what was expected to mark a full year of decreased sales."

"It’s also the latest in a series of reports that show the region’s tight housing market could be changing. One sign that price increases could be slowing is that sellers are overwhelmingly receiving less than what they ask for, data show. In the first quarter of the year, 72% of homes sold below their original list price, an increase of 9% from the previous year, according to a study from Knock."

"That’s because the news about the tight housing market is causing sellers to overprice their homes, said Trent Corbin, president of the Redbud Group at Keller Williams SouthPark. And many of them have to later bring the price down, he said."

"'We could not sustain the rising prices that we’ve had over the last five years,' said Kim Trouten, a Realtor. 'We’re going to see an adjustment.'"

"Richard Buttimer, director of the UNCC Center for Real Estate, thinks Charlotte is a long way from California and other states where prices are starting to moderate. 'I don’t think this is a situation where we’re looking at… a bubble or something like that,' he said. 'I think there’s a fundamental economic reason that we’re seeing this happen.'"

From The Real Deal on California. "Big initial public offerings for Lyft, Pinterest and Uber were expected to fuel a surge of home purchases by new millionaires in the San Francisco area. But, midway through spring selling season, evidence to date isn’t backing up the hypothesis. Patrick Carlisle, a market analyst for Compass, told Bloomberg that the San Francisco-area market is 'bumping up against what prices people are willing to pay, or can pay.'"

"The median sale price of a San Francisco home was $1.65 million in March and April, almost unchanged from the same two-month period last year, brokerage firm Compass reported. Compass also reported that home prices just south of San Francisco in San Mateo County fell 5 percent, and listed properties were staying on the market longer before selling."

The Orange County Register in California. "Homebuying in Santa Ana fell 31% in what was Orange County homebuying’s slowest start to a year since 2009. Santa Ana 92703: $496,500 median, down 14.4% over 12 months. Santa Ana 92704: $444,500 median, down 18.7% over 12 months."