After the demise of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March, a study on the fragility of the U.S. banking system found that 186 more banks are at risk of failure even if only half of their uninsured…
Both the stock and bond markets are partying like its 99 again. Fannie Mae, the largest buyer of US mortgages, is not buying into the theory that a soft landing is the base case for the economy. What is Fannie…
Major banks are facing one of the biggest regulatory overhauls since the financial crisis of 2008, setting up a major clash over the amount of capital that they have to set aside to weather downturns. At the same time regional…
According to a recent Federal Reserve Report, fourteen million mortgages were refinanced during the COVID refinance boom, and these refinances will have effects on the mortgage market, real estate, and the general economy for years to come. An astonishing 430…
I always cringe when I see a press release that “regulators” have a solution! FHA has yet another new proposal that sounds great on the surface, but as typical misses some very important items that will cost taxpayers millions or…
Big changes are ahead for automated appraisals. The government feels that automated models show bias in valuation so they have proposed a new rule that will radically alter appraisals. Unfortunately, the new rules will have some large unintended consequences for…
Although the spring real estate market has slowed drastically from the pandemic days, the bottom has not fallen out. Quite the opposite has occurred, in suburban markets and sunbelt cities, real estate keeps charging higher. A good example is…
US bank lending contracted by the most on record in the last two weeks of March, indicating a tightening of credit conditions in the wake of several high-profile bank collapses. Why the sharp pullback in lending? What does this mean…
As the banking crisis unfolds, the media continues to focus on depositors and shareholders. Although both are important, there is an even bigger issue that is not being discussed. According to the FDIC, community banks made 67% of all commercial…
Over 48 hours two banks failed for very different reasons. There is a saying in banking that when rates rise and easy money runs out, we will find the skeletons that have been lurking in plain sight. Are we…