Monday Updates

Mortgages Dwindling

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that mortgage applications fell by 13.5 percent in the week ended Sept. 6 from the previous week, reflecting a 20 percent drop in refinancing and a 3 percent decline in purchase loans. Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, meanwhile, rose to 4.8 percent from 4.73 percent during the same time period. Refinancings have taken the biggest hit from the rate jump, and are down 71 percent from a recent peak in May -- their lowest level since June 2009.

From "Home-Loan Ebb Is a Blow to Banks"
Wall Street Journal (09/11/13) Sidel, Robin; Zibel, Alan; Timiraos, Nick




Cordray Tries to Ease Industry Concerns on Mortgage Rules

Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), said Wednesday that his agency has worked to craft new mortgage-lending rules so they do not exacerbate today's tight lending standards. The agency at the beginning of this year issued an in-depth set of rules to implement a component of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law that holds them accountable for ensuring a borrower's ability to repay a mortgage. Cordray said more than 95 percent of the loans written today will meet the CFPB's criteria but implored lenders to continue making loans that fall outside the government's definition.

From "Cordray Tries to Ease Industry Concerns on Mortgage Rules"
Wall Street Journal (09/11/13) Zibel, Alan