Mortgage payments rise

👋 Welcome back and happy April! Today's newsletter is 582 words, a 2-minute read.

1. Mortgage payments rise

According to the MBA, the median mortgage application payment increased 2.4%, or about $50, from $2,135 in January to $2,184 in February.

“Homebuyer affordability conditions declined further in February as recent economic data on jobs and inflation continue to keep mortgage rates elevated to around 7 percent,” said Edward Seiler, MBA’s Associate Vice President.

An increase indicates declining borrower affordability conditions due to increasing application loan amounts, rising mortgage rates, or a decrease in earnings. A decrease indicates improving borrower affordability conditions – occurs when loan application amounts decrease, mortgage rates decrease, or earnings increase.

2. Charted: Change in NAR membership between January 2023 and January 2024

National membership fell by 2.08% between January 2023 and January 2024, dropping from 1,548,058 to 1,515,837 members.

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3. Catch up quick

🏢 Adam Neumann bids to buy back WeWork for more than $500 million. (Reuters)

🔌 Is your electric bill higher? A change in the bond market might be to blame. (WSJ)

👨‍⚖️ Samuel Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for his orchestration of multiple fraudulent schemes. (DOJ)

4. HUD seeks public comment on updates to reverse mortgage documents

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is inviting public comments on proposed changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program documents, as per a notice in the Federal Register.

Two key documents are at the center of the proposed changes. The first is for the HECM anti-churning disclosure, which is designed to protect borrowers from unnecessary loan refinancing.

HUD also seeks to transition away from the discontinued Fannie Mae Form 1009, the residential loan application for reverse mortgages, to Form 1003, the Uniform Residential Loan Application.

5. CFPB Report: Majority of mortgage complaints resolved efficiently

In 2023, the CFPB received approximately 27,900 mortgage-related complaints. A vast majority (84% or 23,300) were forwarded to companies for review and response, 10% were referred to other regulatory bodies, and 6% were deemed not requiring action. By March 1, 2024, less than 0.1% of these complaints remained unresolved either by the consumer or the bureau.

Mortgage companies exhibited a high responsiveness, addressing 99% of these complaints. The majority of grievances were about conventional home loans and payment difficulties. Companies resolved most complaints with explanations (92%), while a smaller fraction received monetary (2%) or non-monetary relief (3%).

You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday!

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