The Structured Finance Association (SFA) submitted a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to the SEC’s proposed rule “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” (the “Proposed Rule”).

The Structured Finance Association (SFA) is gathering market feedback on the new upfront 50 basis point cross-collateral guarantee on Uniform Mortgage-Backed Securities (UMBS) underlying certain TBA securities that was announced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

On May 13, SFA alongside six other trade associations submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency urging to incorporate a fulsome transition plan for any potential changes in how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac utilize credit scores as they implement Congress’ mandate to establish a process where other credit models can be approved and used in the GSEs mortgage purchase decisions.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) monthly report released April 27, showed pending home sales falling for the fifth consecutive month, down 1.2% in March and 8.2% year over year. Soaring home prices (up 20.2% from February 2021) and average interest rates standing at 5.11%, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, suggest that while the desire to purchase a home is still strong, ‘the financial capacity has become a major limiting factor.’

On April 22, SFA submitted a response to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) request for public input on its Re-Proposal to Enhance Eligibility Requirements for Enterprise Single-Family Seller/Servicers. In its letter, SFA expresses support for FHFA’s efforts to establish minimum capital and liquidity requirements for non-banks in order to retain eligibility as GSE seller/servicers.

This past week, the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage surpassed 5%, reaching 5.02%, according to Mortgage News Daily. This is the first time it has crossed that threshold since 2018.

On April 1, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) proposed a new rule introducing a 40-year loan modification option. The FHA believes that extending the loan term limit from 360 to 480 months will help borrowers avoid foreclosure by spreading the outstanding mortgage balance over a longer period and making their monthly mortgage payments more affordable.

On March 22, the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage reached 4.72%, moving 26 basis points higher since last Friday. This is compared to March 2021 when rates were about 3.45%. As a result of the recent spike, economists are now lowering their home sales forecasts for this year.

In a newly released blog post, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) expressed they are closely monitoring what practices servicers are conducting to help borrowers avoid foreclosures.

Fannie Mae, set to complete its first scheduled Connecticut Avenue Securities sale of 2022, had postponed for a week due to market volatility caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.