Friday’s Government Reports

The U.S. Census Bureau/HUD has released the New Residential Construction Statistics which show new building permits down slightly since August but 4.5% higher than Sept. 2014. Housing completions are up both month over month and year to year.
The New York Federal Reserve has released a paper: The Rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a related blog post: Evaluating the Rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in which the authors evaluate the now seven years and running government conservatorship which injected $187.5 billion into the two entities. The authors conclude that the short term intervention was necessary “because of the central role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the U.S. mortgage market, and the GSEs’ interconnections with the rest of the global financial system.” They go on to argue that the conservatorship was meant to be a temporary “time out” and characterize the lack of mortgage finance reform a “striking failure” and cite broad consensus that the GSEs should be replaced with a private system.

The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the New Residential Construction statistics for June 2015 – which shows sizable increases in housing starts (compared to June 2014) for multiple unit construction, particularly in the Northeast (up 159.6% for 5 units or more), South (up 10.4% overall) and the West (up 27.4%).
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) for May 2015 is up .4% from April 2015. The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From May 2014 to May 2015, house prices were up 5.7 percent. The U.S. index is 1.8 percent below its March 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the April 2006 index level.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Monthly Complaint Report reveals that the most complained about product is the Mortgage while the biggest increase in complaints has been in the debt collection sector. The report details complaint data by company, region and financial product.

Friday’s Government Reports Roundup

CFPB releases its 2014 Fair Lending Report, discussing its fair lending acts over the past year. It shows that the CFPB required institutions to provide over $224 million in remediation in 2014.
A S. Census Bureau paper examines the effects of foreclosures on families during the financial crisis and in the years following.
The Center for Housing Policy released a report “Impacts of Affordable Housing on Health: A Research Summary,” which discusses how Affordable Housing is correlated to better health than unaffordable, unstable and poor quality housing.
The National Housing Conference released report: “Broadband Connectivity in Affordable Housing,” which highlights the need for internet access in affordable housing.
HUD released the “2015 Worst Case Housing Needs” report.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its economic indicators for the first quarter of 2015, both rental and homeownership vacancy is down compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Homeownership rate of 63.7% is also down.
The Counselor to the Treasury Department’s Secretary for Housing Finance Policy, Dr. Stegman’s remarks before Fitch Ratings 2015 House View Conference on Residential Mortgage Backed Securities in which he discussed efforts to catalyze the development of a vibrant, responsible private label MBS channel.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s letter responding to questions from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), on the timeframe for ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in which he clarifies the relationship.