Title Strategy, Non-Agency, Construction Capital, Workflow Tools; Housing Policy, Rates, and $200 Billion

“Did you hear what NASA's new slogan will be once its budget is cut? ‘NASA: The Sky's The Limit’” If you’re a conference organizer, do you have a catchy slogan for the event? That certainly seems to be expected. Fannie Mae has a slogan (“Powering America’s Housing” or “Supporting America’s Housing,” depending on who you ask) as does Freddie Mac (“We Make Home Possible”). The two have been in the news lately after President Trump proposed his “representatives” will buy $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities. FHFA Director Bill Pulte stepped up and said, “We’re here for you” and waited for marching orders. Agency MBS prices improved but then worsened more than they had gained when “Sell America” arose. Do the markets trump government intervention? Pulte confirmed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not exceed $200 billion in additional mortgage-backed securities purchases, halting speculation that buying could expand further. While the agency has granted the GSEs legal flexibility beyond prior caps, some of the uncertainty around the scale of government support of the mortgage market was reduced helping give investors a more defined framework for assessing housing and real estate conditions, signaling that any impact from GSE MBS purchases will be capped until changed by a tweet. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Truework, the one verification solution to replace in-house waterfalls. Verify any borrower with a VOIE solution that automates the entire process to quickly deliver the most accurate and complete reports with broad GSE coverage. Today’s has an interview with Experian’s Michele Bodda on how evolving credit data, new scoring models, and shifting renter sentiment are reshaping mortgage access and underwriting economics.)