Existing-home sales increased in May

🎉 It’s Friday! Welcome back to Mortgage Nuggets. Today's newsletter is 587 words, a 2.5-minute read. Let's go!

1. Housing associations express concerns on credit score changes

A coalition of 17 associations, led by the HPC, MBA, and NAR, are requesting more time and expressing concerns regarding the transition from the Classic FICO credit model to FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 credit score models.

In letters addressed to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the organizations highlight the far-reaching impacts, significant costs, and operational complexity of the proposed changes.

The organizations express concerns about the stability of the housing finance system and emphasize the need for flexibility, transparency, and comprehensive stakeholder engagement. They also request robust data transparency, a recalibrated implementation timeline, and coordination to avoid consumer confusion and operational backlog.

2. More Nuggets

The startup Newzip, founded by a former Keller Williams Realty executive, enables virtually any mortgage lender to emulate programs offered by rivals, such as Rocket Mortgage, loanDepot, and Better. LINK

Planet Home Lending increased the size of its mortgage servicing rights portfolio with a $10 billion bulk acquisition from Village Capital & Investment, a Henderson-based FHA and VA originator. LINK

Top economist Ali Wolf says the housing market recession is ‘over’ in the new-home space, but she’s hesitant on what comes next. LINK

AmeriFirst Financial has relaunched its forward mortgage originations. It ceased that business in Dec 2022 after rising mortgage rates wreaked havoc on the industry. LINK

The median age in the U.S. reached a record high last year, rising to 38.9 years, and it's likely only going up from here, per Census Bureau data out yesterday. LINK

New York could become the latest state in the U.S. to ban noncompete agreements. A bill passed the state's Assembly earlier this week and is now on the governor's desk. LINK

3. Southern residents often pay more for mortgages, CFPB

A report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) highlights the difficulties Southern consumers face in accessing credit and the higher interest rates they pay compared to other regions.

The CFPB found that while Southern rural consumers apply for mortgages at the same rate as the national average, they face higher application denial rates (27% compared to 11% nationally) and higher average interest rates (3.51% compared to 3.13% nationally).

The report also reveals high rates of unbanked individuals, at ~11.1%, compared with the national average of 4.5%. The piece ends by acknowledging progress in mortgage access and credit outreach but highlights the need for improved financial access in the region.

4. Existing-home sales increased in May

Existing-home sales marginally increased in May, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Sales showed a mixed performance across the four major U.S. regions, with improvements in the South and West and pullbacks in the Northeast and Midwest. All four regions experienced year-over-year sales declines.

Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 0.2% from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.30 million in May. Year-over-year, sales dropped 20.4% (down from 5.40 million in May 2022).

Total housing inventory registered at the end of May was 1.08 million units, up 3.8% from April but down 6.1% from one year ago (1.15 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 3.0-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.9 months in April and 2.6 months in May 2022.

☀️ See you on Friday!

1 funny thing: Elon Musk proposes ‘Cage Match’ with Mark Zuckerberg. The technology moguls who run Twitter and Meta (IG&FB) appeared to agree to a fight, the latest twist in a long-running feud. NYTimes

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