- The S. Department of Commerce found that in January 2016, the sale of single-family homes decreased by 9.2 percent from a 10-month high. However, most believe that the housing market remains stable.
Author Archives: Shea Cunningham
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Roundup
- The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies released 2016 Update on Homeownership Wealth Trajectories through the Housing Boom and Bust, which it had originally released in 2013. “It examines the goals of homeownership and lessons from the housing crisis.”
- The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development released “Who is Lending and Who is Getting Loans?” report, finding that lending data does not match NY’s demographic data. For example, 22 percent of New Yorkers are black and 29 percent are Hispanic, but 8.7 and 8.4 percent of mortgages went to those groups in 2014, respectively.
- Enterprise Community Partners and the Center for Outcomes Research and Education released “Health in Housing: Exploring the Intersection Between Housing and Health Care”, which shows that having affordable housing paired with health care services reduces emergency room visits, lowers Medicaid costs and increases access to primary care.
Wednesday’s Academic Roundup
- Buying Happiness: Property, Acquisition, & Subjective Well-Being, David Fagundes.
- Growth and Volatility of Micro Statistical Areas in the U.S., Bienvenido S. Cortes, Michael Davidsson & Michael McKinnis, The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, v. 9(4), pg. 89–102, 2015.
- What Drives Racial and Ethnic Differences in High Cost Mortgages? The Role of High Risk Lenders, Patrick J. Bayer, Fernando V. Ferreira & Stephen L. Ross, Economic Research Initiatives at Duke (ERID) Working Paper No. 206.
- A Study on the Consistency between Housing and Urban Planning Policies, N. Kosavera et al., High School of Economics Research Paper No. WP BRP 03/URB/2016.
Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Roundup
- HUD is making $40 million in grants to supports housing counseling organizations across the country to enable them to assist low- and moderate-income families.
- Los Angeles County has approved a comprehensive plan to fight homelessness, which includes a $2 billion investment over 10 years and $100 million in the next year for homeless services.
- Denver introduces a new Social Impact Bond Initiative (SIB) to provide housing and services for 250 homeless individuals struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues.
- The S. Treasury Department announced its $2 billion additional Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding for the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), which will help assist struggling homeowners and stabilize neighborhoods through state Housing Finance Agencies.
Monday’s Adjudication Roundup
- A suit under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for unwanted text messages against VoiceShot LLC and Kale Realty LLC, a real estate agency, was dismissed when the court found that the law did not apply to their conduct. The court found that VoiceShot was a “common carrier” providing telecommunication services and thus is immune from TCPA liability.
- The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not considered “federal agencies” under the False Claims Act, but rather non-governmental third parties in particular circumstances, including spending money on the government’s behalf.
- The S. Securities and Exchange Commission receives $147 million in illicit profit and $1 million in civil penalties from Louis Schooler, who deceived investors to buying into a general partnership at exorbitant, undisclosed markups.
- In cases alleging failure in trustee duties on residential mortgage-backed securities, S. Bank won (partially) when the court dismissed claims from the federal credit union regulator, but allowed private investor contract breach claims to continue.
- UBS AG will pay $33 million in settlement with National Credit Union Association for claims alleging that UBS lied on offering documents to residential mortgage-backed securities.
Friday’s Government Reports Roundup
- The New York Federal Reserve Bank released its Household Debt and Credit quarterly report, stating that total household indebtedness is about $12.1 trillion, which increased in Q4 2015, while repayment rates have improved.
- HUD released its grant allocations to support affordable housing for Native Americans. It will give $660 million to 587 Native American tribes under the Indian Housing Block Grant allocations.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Roundup
- The Economic Policy Institute found that unemployment rates varied considerably by state and race in Q4 2015.
- The Housing Partnership Network released report on comparisons between affordable housing in the United Kingdom versus the United States.
- The National Housing Conference released its Housing Landscape 2016 Report, finding that in general housing costs are continually increasing, growing about six percent from 2011 to 2014.
