The Housing Bubble Blog

A report from Forbes on what's happening with FHA loans. "Today should have been the day that Ignacio Paulino closed on his new mortgage loan. But thanks to the coronavirus outbreak—and the fears that it will set off a wave of foreclosures—that’s no longer happening. Paulino applied to refinance...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Nonbank financial firms spent years lobbying against tougher regulation and stricter capital requirements, arguing that their emerging dominance in mortgage lending didn’t pose a risk to the financial system. Now, many of those companies say they...

A report from HousingWire. "HousingWire spoke to Todd Bitter, a loan originator servicing the Greater Phoenix-Scottsdale market. HousingWire: What are you doing within your lending business to adapt to the current market situation? Todd Bitter: For the last quite a few years, I haven’t done an FHA....

A report from Reuters. "The coronavirus crisis is likely to cut home and office building prices, may lead to a permanent shift in the demand for office space, and could push highly indebted households and companies toward default, Boston Federal Reserve bank president Eric Rosengren said on...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "The central bank’s decision to buy a nearly unlimited supply of government-backed mortgages has helped calm skittish markets and ensure that 30-year home loans remain available. But the market for loans in which the government doesn’t shoulder the risk is...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "As the novel coronavirus causes turmoil in property markets, some of the most risk-hungry real-estate lenders are starting to come under pressure. Funding debt investments with bank loans has allowed REITs and debt funds to juice up their profits, but it puts...

A report from Bloomberg. "Tom Barrack, who a week ago warned that commercial real estate financing was on the brink of collapse because of the coronavirus pandemic, is now calling for a moratorium on margin calls and intervention by the Federal Reserve to keep values of mortgage debt from...

A report from Realtor.com. "'The biggest initial coronavirus hit will be felt in the tourism and hospitality industries,' says realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. These are the same places where folks tend to buy vacation homes. 'Second-home markets tend to be hit a bit harder in a...

A report from Housing Wire. "It looks like borrowers who don’t fit neatly into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s lending criteria could soon be running out of options if they want to buy a house. Over the last week, many (if not all) of the biggest lenders specializing in lending to borrowers outside...

A report from the Los Angeles Times in California. "At the start of 2020, the Southern California housing market was heating up, juiced by cheap money and a growing economy. Then a global pandemic hit. Deals are now falling out of escrow. Sellers are cutting prices. Certain types of financing are...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Mortgage firms are bracing for a wave of missed payments starting April 1 as borrowers lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. The firms, which collect money from borrowers on behalf of investors, are concerned they will have to...

A report from Bloomberg. "As America heads into a deep recession, the $11 trillion residential-mortgage market is in crisis. Investors who buy home loans packaged into bonds are dumping even those with federal backing because of panic that millions might not make their payments. Yet one risky...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "A mortgage-lending company sponsored by private-equity giant TPG is delaying dividend payments and said it is in danger of running out of money if market turmoil continues, a fresh sign that nonbank lenders are getting squeezed. Less regulated than banks,...

Two reports from the Wall Street Journal. "Several investment funds focused on mortgage investments are examining assets sales, and at least one is struggling to meet margin calls from lenders. Over the weekend, hedge funds, insurance companies and private-equity firms examined AG Mortgage's...

A report from Bloomberg. "A crisis in credit markets deepened over the weekend and into Monday as a cluster of funds that own mortgage bonds sought to sell billions in assets to meet investor redemptions, sparking pleas for government intervention. The sales included at least $1.25 billion of...

A report from Fortune Magazine. "Zillow has temporarily stopped its home buying operations in 24 states due to the outbreak. 'Given the concerns for public safety and rapid developments by governments that restrict local real estate activities, we determined it was prudent to pause our home buying...

A report from the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. "The current crisis was not caused by pre-existing economic weakness. 'There was little evidence of an approaching downturn as recently as a month or two ago,' said Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution. 'Unemployment remained low,...

A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Airbnb Inc. is considering raising capital from new investors, as the home-sharing giant wrestles with escalating losses due to the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its global business, according to people close to the company .The San...

It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Auction.com reported in January that experts predict foreclosure and REO inflow will increase in 2020, with most of the influx coming for government-insured loans. 'Most in the default servicing industry expect government-insured loans to be the...

A report from CNBC. "Just last week, Zach Jacobs and his wife had 95% of their Tampa, Florida, Airbnb’s dates booked for the next three months. By Sunday, that number had dwindled down to 5% as the coronavirus outbreak began to spread throughout the U.S. 'We went from a fantastic outlook for the...