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- MBA warns of foreclosure spike as VA discontinues VASP
MBA warns of foreclosure spike as VA discontinues VASP
Plus: Payrolls rose by 228,000 in March
👋 Welcome back! Today’s newsletter is 675 words, a 2.5-minute read. Let’s go…
Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of April 04, 2025. © MND Daily Rate Index.
1. Employers added 228,000 new jobs in March
Job growth was stronger than expected in March, providing at least temporary reassurance that the labor market is stable, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 228,000 for the month, up from the revised 117,000 in February and better than the Dow Jones estimate for 140,000.
However, the unemployment rate moved up to 4.2%, higher than the 4.1% forecast as the labor force participation rate also increased.
The report comes against a highly uncertain backdrop after Trump’s tariff announcement last week that has intensified fears of a global trade war that could damage economic growth.
2. MBA warns of foreclosure spike as VA discontinues VASP
The VA announced on Thursday that it will discontinue a mortgage-assistance program aimed at helping veterans avoid foreclosure. However, the VA has provided limited information, leaving it uncertain whether a new support program will take its place.
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, released the following statement on the VA's reported plans of a phase-out of its Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program:
“Halting the VASP program will increase the number of veterans facing foreclosure unless the VA and Congress implement a permanent partial claim option as soon as possible. Any characterization of VASP as a ‘lender bailout’ is patently false and entirely inappropriate.”
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3. More Nuggets
🧨 Opendoor, Fathom stocks flirt with $1 threshold — and with disaster. (inman)
📝 The lean, mean (illegal?) 1099 LO machine. (HousingWire)
🏘️ How can the tax code make housing more affordable? (Urban Institute)
🤝 Capital One-Discover deal clears DOJ hurdle. (NYT)
🏦 Why does everyone want to be a bank now? The shifting regulatory landscape. (Bloomberg)
📉 Mortgage rates sink on tariffs: Here’s what you need to know. (CNBC)
🥊 First American exec faces assault charges on cruise ship. (NMN)
4. Charted: Number of unsold completed homes for sale
The inventory of fully built, unsold new homes has reached a 15-year high. According to Resiclub, there were 119,000 unsold completed new homes as of February 2025, the highest number since July 2009, when inventory hit 126,000.
5. The top brokerages in the U.S.
T3 Sixty has just released a preview of its report ranking the largest brokerage firms by sales volume in 2024. The full report will be published on Wednesday. For the fourth year in a row, Compass has taken the No. 1 spot as the top brokerage in residential real estate.
The biggest mover was The Real Brokerage, which doubled its sales year over year and vaulted into the fifth spot, up from No. 10 in last year’s rankings. Here are the top 10 brokerages in the country, ranked by their total annual sales:
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☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday!
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