Common Woes Offer Hope for Housing

Sadly, the days are already getting shorter here on the other side of the summer solstice. We thought it a good time to shorten this issue of Capital Commentary, too, by a couple of hundred words while still providing an optimistic outlook. Read More

FHFA under Fire

The dog days of summer haven’t yet hit Washington, but the temperature was plenty hot for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) at two House committees investigating the regulator’s decisions on the mortgage market. Read More

LLPA Changes Stir Controversy

Anyone following housing policy knows that one issue has dominated recent headlines: Changes to upfront loan prices paid by borrowers on loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac that took effect May 1. Read More

Will Climate Change Housing’s Future?

Climate change’s long-term implications for housing come under scrutiny in the latest Capital Commentary. Homeowners insurance and heating bills are increasing while policymakers wrestle with climate-exposed loans that lenders are shifting to the GSEs. Read More

Growing Risks to Housing Finance System?

This issue of Capital Commentary highlights new potential risks to the housing finance system: reducing the effectiveness of transferring credit risk and eliminating title insurance and full appraisals on many loans. Read More

Queen City’s King-Size Problems

Arch MI leaders recently visited Cincinnati, Ohio, to ask local stakeholders about the causes and ramifications of the limited supply of homes available for sale and what should be done to boost affordable homeownership in their communities. Their responses offer ideas for many other U.S. cities facing housing challenges. Read More

They’ve Got the Housing Blues

Just when you think there is finally a nationwide consensus about the need to build more homes to meet housing demand, someone lets the cat out of the bag that it just isn’t so. Read More

PolicyCast: Zelman the Contrarian

Ivy Zelman, CEO of Zelman & Associates, returns to discuss her firm’s contrarian views on the housing deficit, changing demographics and a suggestion for policymakers regarding inflation. Read More