Entries by Edward Pinto

Total Agency Loan Volume Is Projected to Decline 15-30% From Its Series Low Set in January 2023

By Edward J. Pinto | Tobias Peter | Sissi Li PDF to full report Key takeaways: The median purchase rate rose 1/8 ppts. to 7 5/8% in week 42, setting a new series record. Mortgage News Daily reported a daily avg. 30-year rate of 7.90% on October 24th. Purchase volume was down 46% from the same week in 2019 and […]

There’s an Easy Fix That Would Solve Our Housing Crisis: Light Touch Density

We’re living through one of the greatest housing crunches the U.S. has ever known. It’s resulted in record numbers of homelessness and entire generations certain they will never become homeowners, that critical milestone of the middle class. But there is a simple solution to the problem. The answer to our housing crisis is to legalize […]

Does Social Housing Actually Work? Setting the Record Straight on the Vienna Model

Over the past few years, Vienna’s social housing model– where about 60% of residents live in municipally owned or supported apartments at subsidized rents–has been portrayed as a success of socialism over market forces in numerous news stories. For example, the New York Times recently called Vienna a “renters’ utopia”; the Financial Times “a success […]

Housing Finance Watch: Purchase Rate Lock Volume Was Down 42% From 2019 While Rates Were Stable

Housing Finance Watch(Week 22, 2023) By Edward J. Pinto | Tobias Peter | Sissi Li Key takeaways: Median rates stayed at 6 5/8% while daily 30-year rates retreated from their recent peak of 7.14% to 6.89% on June 5th, according to MND. Purchase volume was 42% below 2019’s level. Y-o-y HPA is projected to be around 1% in May, June, […]

REPORT: Prevalence of GSE Appraisal Waivers—March 2023

This report tracks trends for GSE appraisal waivers monthly and provides data on the risk characteristics of these loans. To download the most recent data, please click here. To read our comment letter to FHFA on appraisal-related policies, practices, and processes, please click here. PDF to most recent report Slide deck on GSE Appraisal Waiver Report AUTHORS […]

The Federal Reserve’s Housing Market Lessons to Be Learned [Once Again]

Summary The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were unprecedented in terms of widespread lockdowns, skyrocketing unemployment, and a financial market crash. The Federal Reserve took aggressive expansionary efforts in the form of Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) to stabilize the economy, while Congress enacted massive fiscal stimulus. However, one of the […]

All of the 60 Largest Metros Experience Declines in Home Prices in November as Longest Boom Ends

National Home Price Appreciation (HPA) Index – November 2022 Key takeaways: National YoY HPA for November 2022 averaged 6.7%, down from 8.5% a month ago and 16.7% a year ago. Historically, HPA in the low price tier has outpaced HPA in the upper price tiers. YoY HPA varied significantly among the 60 largest metros. It […]

Prevalence of GSE Appraisal Waivers

This report tracks trends for GSE appraisal waivers monthly and provides data on the risk characteristics of these loans. To download the most recent data, please click here. To read our comment letter to FHFA on appraisal-related policies, practices, and processes, please click here. PDF to most recent report Slide deck on GSE Appraisal Waiver Report AUTHORS […]

Housing’s Stunning Downfall in One Chart: Prices Have Plunged in 51 of These 60 Cities

Home Prices are Down in Every One of the Top 58 Metros According to the Latest AEI Data. But Cities in this Region Have Taken the Biggest Hit so Far. In the Fortune article below Shawn Tully discusses recent declines in the housing market and their variability between regions with Ed Pinto, the Director of AEI’s Housing […]

Home Purchases Now Near Its Lowest Level of the 2019-22 Period Due to Rates More Than Doubling Since January, 2021

Key takeaways: The 10-year old seller’s market continues, evidenced by: Modest purchase volume declines, in spite of a cumulative 39% increase in constant quality HPA since January 2020, Historically tight supply, The work from home revolution, and Arbitrage opportunities due to metro & regional price differences. Purchase volume for week 35 is down 31% & […]

New housing market data reveals a stunning shift as these 21 of the top 50 metro areas show price declines for June

In the Fortune article below Shawn Tully interviews Ed Pinto and cites AEI Housing Center data on HPA to discuss the cooling housing market. He also writes about the geography of these changes, as western metros face the most drastic downturns in HPA. It’s finally happening. After soaring 40% from pre-pandemic levels in the greatest […]

Testimony to House Ways and Means: Government Policies are Responsible for the American Housing Crisis

On July 13th I testified to the House Ways and Means Committee on the Building Back Better Act. I explained how the bill’s funding proposals will double down on past failed policies, fuel inflation, and once again place low-income and minority households in harm’s way. You can find the executive summary in this email and on […]

The AEI Housing Center’s Critique of “How We Investigated Racial Disparities in Federal Mortgage Data”

The Rest of the Story The American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center released a special briefing: “The Rest of the Story The AEI Housing Center’s Critique of ‘How We Investigated Racial Disparities in Federal Mortgage Data.‘” The call reports on the Housing Center’s analysis of and critiques of a widely-circulated report by The Markup/Associated Press: “How […]

Connecting the Dots: How the Latest Affordable Housing Policy Benefits Homeowners and Realtors, not First-time Buyers

Tobias Peter, senior research analyst at the AEI Center on Housing Markets and Finance, wrote the following blog post: Connecting the Dots: How the Latest Affordable Housing Policy Benefits Homeowners and Realtors, not First-time Buyers. In it he explains how “another government housing policy intended to open “the door to home purchase mortgages for large numbers of […]