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1 week ago | 
urban.org | Janneke Ratcliffe |Laurie Goodman |Jung Hyun Choi |Sarah Rosen Wartell
Body Credit scores are a foundational component of the US housing finance system and a key indicator of a homebuyer’s ability to access homeownership’s wealth-building benefits.Credit scores are central to risk-based pricing decisions, loan terms, down payment requirements, and more. Join the Urban Institute for a data-driven, evidence-based discussion on the evolution of credit scores in the housing finance ecosystem.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Janneke Ratcliffe |Michael Neal |Jung Hyun Choi
Housing Finance At A Glance is a monthly reference guide policymakers and industry professionals have used since 2013 to stay informed about the latest mortgage and housing market data. The chartbook includes more than 80 updated figures describing current trends in the US housing finance market, such as housing affordability, credit availability, and serious delinquency rates.
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Janneke Ratcliffe
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that play a major role in the US housing finance system, have been in conservatorship since 2008. Many market participants anticipate the Trump administration will recapitalize these entities and release them from conservatorship.
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Dec 19, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |John Walsh
In the waning days of the first Trump administration, the US Department of the Treasury amended the terms of the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs), which set the requirements that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), must meet to receive financial support. The amended terms limited the share of “high-risk” mortgages, second homes, and investor properties the GSEs could purchase.
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Dec 9, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Jun Zhu
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the approval of two credit score models: FICO 10T, an updated version of the current Classic FICO, and VantageScore 4.0, for use by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). In addition, lenders would also have the option to move from tri-merge credit reporting to bi-merge reporting.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Janneke Ratcliffe |Michael Neal |Jung Hyun Choi
In the November 2024 edition of At A Glance, the Housing Finance Policy Center’s reference guide for mortgage and housing data, Year-over-year house price appreciation for the most expensive homes surpassed appreciation for the least expensive homes for the first time since March 2022, the number of mortgages with mortgage insurance is up from Q3, 2023, but the composition has shifted, with the FHA and VA share up, and the PMI share down, and the cashout share of refinances decreased by 20...
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Daniel Pang
Many Americans believe that manufactured homes do not appreciate as much as site-built homes. This negative perception leads some local governments to pass zoning restrictions that limit or ban manufactured housing in their communities. The perception also makes potential homeowners less likely to purchase manufactured homes. But newly released data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) confirms this perception is not based in fact.
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Nov 7, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Alexei Alexandrov
Nearly 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, and about a third of those homes are in manufactured home communities (MHCs), colloquially referred to as “mobile home parks.” Although residents of these communities typically own their homes, they rarely own the land under the home, instead renting their “pad” from the community itself.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Alexei Alexandrov
Climate change is creating conditions for more devastating and more widespread disasters, and many households nationwide now find themselves without adequate home insurance. Households with mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) are required to maintain home insurance based on replacement cost, but they are not required to have flood insurance unless they live in a dedicated flood zone.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
urban.org | Laurie Goodman |Janneke Ratcliffe |Michael Neal |Jung Hyun Choi
In the October 2024 edition of At A Glance, the Housing Finance Policy Center’s reference guide for mortgage and housing data, the cashout share of refinances has decreased to the lowest share since October 202, prepayment rates and refinance shares of all loans are increasing, particularly among Ginnie loans and year-over-year house price appreciation has slowed over 2024.
