LIHTC and GSE programs both use the same flawed system for determining whether a project is “affordable,” revealed David Brickman, former CEO of Freddie Mac.
Although the GSEs have for several months seen declines in the share of investor and second-home mortgage purchases, it remains to be seen whether lenders will continue to deliver these loans into the non-agency market now that the caps have been withdrawn. (Includes two data charts.)
In her first long-form interview since taking over as FHFA acting director, Sandra Thompson insisted that expanding the GSEs’ books of business won’t make them riskier.
FHFA announced the suspension of the caps on the GSEs’ purchase of second-home and investor-property mortgages on Sept. 14. By Sept. 15, the price of these loans jumped more than a percentage point.
Looking at more than 12 million home appraisals, researchers found that sellers in minority census tracts were more than twice as likely to receive an appraisal below the sale price than sellers in white districts.
The mortgage industry’s warnings that the restrictions placed on the GSEs would tighten credit availability for less qualified borrowers were not lost on the Biden administration.