Ready for new Fannie Mae rules?

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1. Ready for new Fannie Mae rules?

Home lenders that work with Fannie Mae will face new pressure starting in September to be well prepared regarding revamped pre-funding and post-closing review procedures from the GSE.

Mortgage companies got the heads up about new prefunding tasks and shorter post-close review timeline earlier this year, but the requirements have been optional. The changes become mandatory starting Sept. 1.

The changes effectively shift the emphasis of the reviews away from post-closing and more toward prefunding in what appears to be an effort by Fannie to reduce loan defects.

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2. More Nuggets

🧑‍⚖️ PRMG is seeking over $25 million in a lawsuit against Axia Home Loans, accusing them of poaching key employees amid the mortgage surge. (NMN)

💸 Institutional buyers won’t stay on the housing market sideline forever: ‘This is temporary’ (Fortune)

🏚️ We are dealing with 'a very savagely unhealthy’ housing market, says HousingWire’s Logan Mohtashami. (CNBC)

🤖 In other news: Eight months pregnant and arrested after false facial recognition match. (NYTimes)

3. In wake of fires, HUD offers assistance in Hawaii

Following a series of destructive wildfires on Maui, HUD has released a series of regulatory and administrative waivers. These will allow HUD funds to aid Maui's recovery.

• The fires have impacted 5,200 Freddie Mac, 9,800 Fannie Mae, 2,400 Ginnie Mae, 1,300 FHA, and 927 VA mortgages.

HUD's assistance package aims to:

• Suspend the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) public services cap to provide additional support services related to the effects of the disaster on individuals and families–allowing funds to pay for food, water, and other emergency needs.

• Allow new housing construction with CDBG funding in declared-disaster areas.

• Provide flexibility in HOME tenant-based rental assistance requirements to reduce the burden for those seeking assistance.

• Waive the HOME local matching contribution requirements and provide greater flexibility in the entities that can expeditiously provide housing to displaced persons and repair properties damaged by the disaster.

• Extend the period that individuals can receive temporary assistance, including CDBG emergency grant payments and ESG rental assistance.

4. Nearly 1 in 10 US homes command $1M

The share of homes worth $1 million or more rose to 8.2% in June. That’s just shy of the all-time high of 8.6% last year at this time, and up from a 12-month low of 7.3% in February 2023, according to Redfin.

Here are the markets with the highest share of million-dollar homes:

1. San Francisco, CA – 81.2%

2. San Jose, CA – 79.6%

3. Anaheim, CA – 55.4%

4. Oakland, CA – 49.0%

5. San Diego, CA – 39.7%

6. Los Angeles, CA – 38.1%

7. Honolulu, HI – 38.0%

8. Oxnard, CA – 34.5%

9. Seattle, WA – 33.0%

10. New York, NY – 28.6%

☀️ See you on Wednesday!

Report: Get an exclusive look into home buyer groups taking on higher rates head-on. Get your free copy of the report here.

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