The state of the housing market is intrinsically tied to the
economy, making Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Chief Economist Mike
Fratantoni well suited to comment on where it stands, as he recently did before
members of Congress.
Read what he had to say, as well as other developments
announced by trade organizations representing banks, credit unions and other
corners of the financial marketplace:
MBA chief economists testifies on the state of the
housing market
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee’s
Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni
emphasized aspects of the housing market affecting buyers, financial products
and services, financing sources and challenges faced by homebuyers and lenders.
He also examined trends in the rental housing market, particularly for
single-family rentals. He noted that the single-family residential mortgage
market currently has $13 trillion in mortgage debt outstanding and MBA expects originations
to reach $2 trillion in 2024. Fratantoni also underscored the importance of
mortgage originations in supporting U.S. homeownership rates, which have
remained around 65 percent in recent year. Additionally, he pointed out the
significant homeownership gap across various racial and ethnic groups and
discussed regulatory challenges and issues related to mortgage credit and
homeowner’s insurance. Read his prepared testimony here.
CBA releases survey results on how consumers use
overdraft services
The Consumer Bankers Association (unveiled the results of
its survey examining consumers’ views on bank overdraft fees and how they have
used them since the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade group noted on its website
that the survey provides new data on the types of transactions in which
consumers tend to incur overdraft fees, available alternatives to overdraft
services and how consumers feel about their choices and options with respect to
such fees and services. The survey results are available here.
Community banks, credit unions back bill banning SBA from
making direct 7(a) loans
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) CEO
and President Rebeca Romero Rainey and America’s Credit Unions (ACU) President
and CEO Jim Nussle each expressed support of legislation proposing to
prohibit the Small Business Administration from making direct loans under the
7(a) lending program. The bill was introduced by Senate Banking Committee
Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-S.C.), dubbed the “Protecting Access to Credit for
Small Businesses Act,” to target a provision from President Joe Biden’s fiscal
2025 budget proposal to authorize 7(a) direct lending. Read ICBA’s letter here
and ACU’s letter here.
ABA report shows large upswing in farm bank lending
A new report from the American Bankers Association (ABA)
indicated lending by U.S. farm banks increased by 6.7 percent to $110 billion
in 2023. Researchers noted this growth was achieved despite elevated production
costs, commodity price volatility and a return to pre-pandemic levels of direct
government payments. ABA’s economic research team based its findings on data
provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture gathered from 1,442 banks specializing in agricultural lending. ABA
defines farm banks as banks whose ratio of domestic farm loans to total
domestic loans is greater than or equal to the industry average. See the full
report findings here.