A daily roundup of news affecting housing and
communities
By Allison Charette
- The FHFA announced this morning that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will limit any future mortgage acquisitions to those that meet “qualified mortgage” (QM) requirements starting in 2014, despite the GSEs’ and FHA’s statutory exemption. (FHFA, May 6)
- FEMA has announced the release of five Recovery Advisories (RAs) pertaining to communities still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. These documents, written by the FEMA Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT), are meant to help buildings prevent any further flood damage. (HUD, May 3)
- Enterprise’s President and CEO, Terri Ludwig, wrote in the Huffington Post last week about the “hidden housing crisis” of Indian Reservations across the country. There are currently 90,000 homeless or under-housed people every night on reservations, and one in four Natives live in poverty – nearly twice the national average. Unfortunately, existing programs meant to mitigate this crisis have had their budgets cut. (Huffington Post, May 2)
- The April employment number (released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics) show that 165,000 jobs were created, bringing unemployment down 0.1 percent to 7.5 percent. Additionally, March’s job numbers were revised from the disappointing 88,000 up to 138,000. (Businessweek, May 3)
- Reports on the viability of the FHFA multifamily portfolio find that the government guarantees are necessary for the business to have any value to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If the businesses were to be sold, the US Treasury and the taxpayer would not experience a high return. These implications must be considered with any affordable housing reform. (FHFA, May 3)
- A real estate company, Doorsteps, has developed an info-graphic showing demographic and financial information on first-time homebuyers using National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) data. According to the data, first-time buyers have an average income of $61,800 and represent 39 percent of all homebuyers. To pay for their first homes, buyers are most likely to reduce luxury and entertainment spending. (NAR, April 30)
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