Scotsman Guide

Just over a month remains for the public to comment on a proposed rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) that would amend the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Enacted in 1977, the CRA was designed to prevent discriminatory redlining practices and encourage banks to meet the credit needs of the communities they serve, including low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods.

Seven minutes later, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) revealed in a separate post that all mortgage-backed securities (MBS), credit risk transfers and any other securitized product issued by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac “will now carry a VantageScore, in addition to a FICO score.” “One company cannot hold the market hostage,” he added, referring to FICO, whose Classic FICO model has been a mortgage industry mainstay for years.

The average U.S. multifamily advertised rent ticked up $2 in August, to $1,773, while year-over-year price growth accelerated to 0.4%, according to a report from Yardi Matrix. The modest increase marked one of the few times that rents have risen in recent months, due to the large number of deliveries of multifamily properties since the COVID-19 pandemic. Yardi Matrix found that apartment starts and deliveries have fallen by one-third from the peak development period of 2023-24.

Prices for materials and labor required for home repair and remodeling projects rose at their fastest pace in two years during the second quarter as Iran war impacts tangled global supply chains and caused energy prices to spike. Repair and remodeling costs jumped nearly 1% from April through June, Verisk Analytics reported Wednesday. That compares to 0.47% quarterly growth at the end of 2025 and revised 0.69% growth over the first three months of 2026.

Mortgage rates that rose to their highest level since last June pushed mortgage demand lower across the board last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday. The MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volumes, slid 2.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis over the week ending Sept. 4. Seasonally adjusted purchase mortgage applications were largely unchanged, edging just 0.2% lower.

U.S. home prices continued a trend of muted though modest gains in July as Midwest and Northeast markets outperformed counterparts across the South and West. Real estate analytics firm Cotality reported Tuesday that national home prices rose 1.4% year over year in July while posting no growth from June.

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA), a trade group that represents independent nonbank mortgage lenders, says no mechanism exists for the nonbank servicers that do a majority of residential loan servicing for Ginnie Mae to receive emergency funding from the federal government during times of crisis.

Inflation expectations remained largely anchored but labor market outlooks deteriorated among U.S. consumers in August, according to survey results released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The NY Fed survey found that median inflation expectations were unchanged at 3.6% over the one-year time horizon and remained an even 3% over the five-year horizon. Consumer inflation expectations looking ahead three years ticked down by 0.1 percentage points to 3.2%.

The back-and-forth tariff fight between the U.S. and Canada has also heated up the ongoing debate over what impact the increased costs will have on housing materials. On Tuesday, Canada put in place new tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. imports, which included wood products. The move follows the Trump administration’s Aug. 22 announcement of 50% tariffs on various Canadian wood products and laminated veneer lumber, following the collapse of trade talks between the two countries.

On Sept. 4, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) submitted notice of its intent to publish a document in the Federal Register outlining a departmental reorganization involving changes to its headquarters and field operational structure. Later that day, the department submitted a letter requesting the withdrawal of that notice, which had been scheduled for publication on Tuesday. No reason was provided.