Search Results
Large, Dominant Firms Depress Local Wages; Housing Costs Help Offset Lower Pay
Concern has increased about the ability of very large firms to exert market power and hold down wages in localities where they dominate.
Briefing
Removing Conflict of Interest for Agents of Homebuyers
In real estate transactions, sellers' agents have weak incentives to market homes sufficiently long to secure top prices for their clients. Buyers' agents, however, face completely backward incentives: They get paid more when their clients pay more for their homes. We discuss an a la carte compensation model for buyers' agents that eliminates this conflict of interest.
Journal Article
Banking Trends: The Growing Role of CRE Lending
Commercial real estate has grown dramatically as a share of U.S. economic activity and is banks? largest lending category, particularly for small and midsize banks. It is also the riskiest part of bank portfolios. James DiSalvo and Ryan Johnston provide a primer. First in a series.
Real-Time Market Monitoring Finds Signs of Brewing U.S. Housing Bubble
There is growing cause for concern that U.S. house prices are again becoming unhinged from fundamentals.
Ability to Repay a Mortgage: Assessing the Relationship Between Default, Debt-to-Income
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced that it intends to change the definition of a “qualified mortgage.” Specifically, the CFPB proposes to reconsider the use of a borrower's debt-to-income ratio as a measure of the ability to repay a loan.
The Long Road to Housing Finance Reform: 'Are We There Yet?'
Over the past decade, broad-based legislative reforms for housing finance have proven elusive. However, reflecting lessons from the financial crisis, a political consensus has emerged on how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should operate.
Surging House Prices Expected to Propel Rent Increases, Push Up Inflation
The inflation rates of rent and owners’ equivalent rent (OER)—the amount of rent equivalent to the cost of ownership—have declined sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic began in February 2020. However, we expect rent inflation and OER inflation to accelerate in the years to come.
Highly Indebted FHA Borrowers at Special Risk as COVID-19 Forbearance Ends
The situation appears most urgent for those borrowers who entered the crisis with a high debt load and little room to financially navigate without forbearance.
COVID-19 Exposes Mortgage Market Vulnerabilities that Led to Volatility, Fed Intervention
The COVID-19-induced financial market shock in March 2020 significantly disrupted the market for agency mortgage-backed securities.
Inflation in Services Likely to Rise Further Despite Slowing Goods Prices
Given rising demand for in-person services, the slow pass-through of surging house prices to rent and owners’ equivalent rent (OER), and higher health care worker wages, services inflation is likely to increase further.