Record low mortgage delinquency rates

👋 Good morning. This is Mortgage Nuggets. The email that tells you what's going on in the mortgage industry, in plain jane English.

1. HUD launches Office of Manufactured Housing Programs

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has created a new Office of Manufactured Housing Programs in an effort to accelerate the provision of manufactured housing and tackle the country's housing inventory issues.

The office will advocate for affordable housing and homeownership for those with limited resources and signifies the importance of manufactured housing in the nation's housing market.

It has already made significant strides, including implementing the first substantial updates to the "HUD Code" in a decade and proposing the largest set of changes in over twenty years. The office also oversees a federal committee advising the HUD.

2. Rep. Maxine Waters three-pronged housing initiative

Rep. Maxine Waters has reintroduced three key pieces of housing legislation that, if passed, would mark the most substantial investment in affordable housing in U.S. history.

1. The "Housing Crisis Response Act of 2023" would allocate over $150 billion for affordable housing, creating an estimated 1.4 million homes and providing rental aid for up to 300,000 households.

2. The "Ending Homelessness Act of 2023" aims to make the Housing Choice Voucher program a federal entitlement, expanding access and prohibiting discrimination based on income or veteran status.

3. The "Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2023" proposes $100 billion in assistance for first-time, first-generation homebuyers.

Despite strong Democrat support, the bills do not appear to have any Republican support at this time. While the majority in the House is slim, Republicans control the chamber and determine the pieces of legislation that are ultimately brought for debate and voting.

3. More Nuggets

🛠️ Homebuilding Set to Boost US Economy After Two-Year Contraction. (Bloomberg)

⚖️ Rocket Mortgage sued over telemarketing calls and texts. (NMP)

💰 In Other News: The bank robbers who are stealing their own money. (VICE, WSJ)

4. Record low mortgage delinquency rates

The national mortgage delinquency rate fell to 3.1% in May, marking one of the lowest rates on record according to Black Knight's First Look report.

This decrease follows an unexpected 13% surge in delinquencies in April, largely attributed to a calendar anomaly - the fact that April ended on a Sunday, which affects the processing of any payments made on the last calendar days of the month.

The number of borrowers with a single payment overdue dropped by 94,000 (9.5%), reversing nearly half of April's increase. Serious delinquencies (90+ days late) also decreased by 18,000 (3.7%) compared to April, indicating a nearly 30% reduction since May 2022.

Foreclosure starts rose slightly (+2.2%), but active foreclosures continued to decline. The report also highlighted an increase in prepayment activity, “I find that minorly interesting, given that May 2023 rates hovered near 6.7% and yet we saw more prepays. But when all is said and done, activity is still down 40% from this time last year.”

5. California promotes expanded availability of mortgage relief

California housing officials are urging households to take advantage of Homeowner Assistance Fund resources following recent changes to eligibility, including updated area median-income levels.

• Interested California homeowners are encouraged to use the program’s online calculator to check their eligibility. Homeowners who were previously denied due to their income level are encouraged to reapply if their income meets the 2023 adjusted levels.

The new income thresholds will qualify more mortgage borrowers for up to $80,000 in financial assistance. "Even now, too many homeowners are still struggling to recover from the financial toll of the pandemic. This adjustment could mean that more families will not only save their house, but their home," said Rebecca Franklin, president of the CalHFA Homeowner Relief Corporation, in a press release.

☀️ See you on Friday!

1 fun thing: If you've ever secretly wished you could spray marshmallows on your hot chocolate as easily as Reddi-Wip, you're in luck.

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