Housing starts decreased by 14.7% in March from the month prior to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million, the Commerce Department reported today. The rate was 4.3% below the March 2023 level. New building permits—an indicator of future demand—dropped 4.3% in March from the month prior but was 1.5% higher than last year
The OCC announced it will no longer examine banks for reputational risk and will remove references to such risk from its Comptroller’s Handbook booklets and guidance.
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.
