Housing starts rose 2.1 percent in July, landing at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.21 million units, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The July figure was 5.6 percent above the July 2015 rate. Permits for new construction, which are considered a gauge of future demand, were 0.1 percent below June’s rate, landing at an annual rate of 1.15 million.
Existing home sales rose 4.2% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million, the National Association of Realtors reported. Sales dropped 1.2% from a year ago.
The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.67% this week. The rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.83%.
Twenty-three senators from both parties have signed a joint letter expressing their support for the CDFI Fund after President Trump directed the program to scale back staffing and operations.
OFAC issued a final rule extending recordkeeping requirements for certain transactions from five to 10 years to make them consistent with the recently expanded statute of limitations for sanctions violations.
ABA and five associations said they continue to have serious concerns about the planned implementation of new credit score requirements for single-family loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The OCC has created a new page on its website with resources to help community banks meet their digitalization objectives.
