Housing finance was the main feature of a multi-panel discussion at the Realtors Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington yesterday.
Officially titled “Housing Policy in 2013: Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions,” the symposium featured a who’s who in the world of housing finance, including Ed DeMarco, the acting director of the FHFA, Carol Galante, the acting commissioner of the FHA, Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics and Susan Watcher, a professor at the Wharton School of Business.

The Federal Housing Administration has taken a big role in the tight-lending environment of the post-boom housing market, but has it been costly?
That’s the argument of the Fiscal Times, which, in a piece analyzing the financing methods of the FHA, even went so far as to utter the word “bubble” in relation to the lending practices of the government agency.

Builder confidence hit its highest level in five years in the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) from the NAHB.
A measure of confidence in the newly built, single-family home market, the HMI gained five points from April to May to increase to 29, which is its strongest reading since May 2007.

After a few difficult years, the income and business of Realtors grew in 2011, according to the 2012 National Association of Realtors Member Profile.
A survey of 58,823 NAR members that yielded 6,245 usable responses, the profile found the median income for Realtors rose 2.3 percent in 2011 to $34,900. Also, licensed brokers typically earned $48,400 in 2011, and the median sales for agents was $27,200.

Green homes have been growing more popular with each passing year, and a new study by McGraw-Hill Construction has discovered exponential growth in the industry.
According to its study, officially called “SmartMarket Report: New and Remodeled Green Homes: Transforming the Residential Market,” green homes accounted for 17 percent of the construction market in 2011, or, $17 billion, which is nearly triple that of 2005.

Housing affordability has been trending upwards in the post-boom housing market, and according to analytics firm Fiserv, it’s now at a 40-year high.
Utilizing data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fiserv studied 380 U.S. markets, and it found that with how home prices have corrected after their peak level in 2006′s first quarter, and how mortgage rates have similarly fallen, that a number of affordability-related indices are at their best levels in decades.

NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg has become the latest proponent for housing finance reform, arguing in an op-ed for a comprehensive overhaul of the current system.
“Our goal is to overhaul the housing finance system to ensure that housing credit is available and affordable in the future and is delivered through a system that is competitive, efficient, safe and stable,” he wrote.

Lender Processing Services released its latest Home Price Index (HPI) late last week, reporting that home values increased for just the third time in five years.
Covering the month of February, the HIP rose by 0.2 percent from January, the first price increase since March 2010. The January HPI had originally estimated that prices would fall by another 0.3 percent, but as LPS explained, positive sways in the economy since then accounted for the 0.5 variance from the original estimate.

A new study out by Standard & Poor’s is estimating it will take 46 months to clear out the nation’s supply of shadow inventory, one month less than predictions from 2011.
Liquidation rates for the residential mortgage markets appeared stable, the firm’s analysts said, though they did say that the difference between local markets made a national projection difficult for the market.

Builder confidence in the 55+ market posted big year-over-year gains in the first quarter, another sign of 2012 optimism in the construction industry.
Overall, the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) increased 10 points to 27, which is the highest reading since the index was created in 2008.