CategoryMortgages/Credit/Cash

Fannie & Freddie Are Essential For The Homebuying Process By Expanding Capital For Mortgage Lending The GSEs Did Not Learn Their Lessons From The Moral Hazard Of The Financial Crisis The GSEs Maintain A Cultural Arrogance That Will Get Them Into Trouble If Freed From Conservatorship First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! Early in my career, I learned that certain costs never go...

Art Installation "Comedian" Just Resold For $6.2M As Possible Luxury Housing Market Proxy Lower Mortgage Rate Expectations Scaled Back From Higher Inflation Risk New And Existing Home Sales And Prices Expected To Rise Modestly In 2025 As either a sign of insanity, a strong economy, or a crypto disconnect, (gift link) a banana with duct tape art installation "Comedian" just resold for $6.2 million...

• US Homeownership Rate Is 65.6%, Similar To The Monthly Average Since 1965
• The 5% Surge In US Homeownership During The Housing Bubble Caused A Foreclosure Surge
• New York State Has The Lowest Homeownership Rate While NYC Is Only 30%

• The Fed Gives Housing Sales A Lift With Unexpected 50-Basis Point Cut
• The Fed’s First Rate Cut In Four Years Expected To Pull Mortgage Rates Lower
• Its A New Era With Six More Rate Cuts In The Forecast Through 2025

• With The Collapse Of Mortgage Origination, HELOCS Have Surged
• HELOCs Enable Home Equity Withdrawal But Keep Low Mortgage Rate
• Lock-In Effect Has Been Powerful Source Of Distortion In Housing Market

• Global Tech Meltdown Was The Largest In History, Caused By A Software Update
• Southwest Airlines Avoided The Catastrophe By Not Updating Their OS Since 1992
• The Consensus Is Growing For a September Rate Cut

• Manhattan cash buyers account for two-thirds of all home sales, higher than normal
• U.S. cash buyers in metro areas account for four in ten sales, more than typical
• The share of cash buyers fluctuates with mortgage rates

The Fed reset expectations with a pivot from a threethenone rate cut projection Even a small (25%) rate cut will fuel a surge in sales after two years of waiting A slight rate decline will bring in more inventory but a lot more demand Apologies for a Rod Stewart song reference but he delivers my favorite version of it. Time flies and it is hard to believe that more than two years have passed...

OZK is the biggest U.S. construction lender by far OZK changed its name in 2018 from Bank of the Ozarks OZK dominated construction loans in New York City, now South Florida Bank of the Ozarks changed its name to Bank OZK in 2018 to reflect its broader lending coverage. Coming out of the financial crisis, they acquired a bunch of failed banks. My peers wondered what a bank in Arkansas was doing...

They have low LTVs, game show longevity, and more places to go to the bathroom. Pat Sajak, 41year host of Wheel of Fortune is retiring this Friday. New York is launching “Ur In Luck” (pun obviously intended) to expand the number of public restrooms. Oh, and New York and California have the lowest mortgage loantovalues of the 15 largest states. Here's a reminder of how big NYC is. Both NY and CA...