Housing

A lack of affordable starter homes, increasing homelessness and stubbornly high prices for the homes that already exist have created a pickle that only careful planning and political buy-in can solve.

As the Federal Housing Finance Agency considers how to prepare the system for the future, it can keep member liquidity steady while still boosting affordable housing.

It would be unwise to restrict the use of Home Loan bank advances to housing-related lending.

The Federal Home Loan Banks claim that liquidity in-and-of-itself supports affordable housing, while the Federal Housing Finance Agency seems to think the mission should be more directly tethered to housing.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency may have gotten more than it bargained for in its review of the Home Loan banks, but there is little doubt that the effort will result in significant structural change.

Federal Home Loan banks aren't doing enough to address the shortage of affordable housing in the U.S., FHFA Director Sandra Thompson says. Some of their members are instead using advances to manage liquidity and perhaps engaging in crypto-related and other activities that put the Deposit Insurance Fund at risk, she says.

The homeownership gap between Black and white populations has widened in the years since the Great Recession, putting obstacles in the way of achieving wealth for a large percentage of Americans. How did we get here, and what do the housing and home lending industries need to do to change the current course?

A heated panel discussion sponsored by the Federal Housing Finance Agency raised questions about the funding, structure and mission of the Home Loan banks.

Inflated home values were already making homeownership unattainable for millions of Americans; now it's interest rates. To change this dynamic, we need some creative thinking.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's tangible capital rule could prevent some banks from accessing advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank system in a rising interest rate environment.

Rising interest rates could force some community banks to fall below a critical capital threshold that the Federal Housing Finance Agency uses to determine eligibility for Home Loan bank advances.

Dozens of community bankers and housing experts offered their opinions on the Federal Home Loan Bank System, the first review in nearly 100 years. But the insurers, nonbanks and megabanks that use the system the most were largely absent from the debate.

The former head of the agency said a decision last year to suspend caps on investor loans has further induced demand in an already hot market. Other experts say a supply-demand imbalance is the true driving force.

A couple squatted in their foreclosed home since 2009 and are only now being evicted, highlighting stubborn problems in the foreclosure process.

The move comes amid dwindling advances and a growing concern that the Home Loan banks are participating in riskier investments.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra L. Thompson told lawmakers on Wednesday that the agency would consider “foundational questions about mission, purpose, and organization” of the Home Loan Bank System.

Led by Rep. French Hill, the group of conservative lawmakers said the agency must do more to ensure appropriate transparency regarding any new products or activities that the enterprises undertake.

The pending budget reconciliation legislation should retain measures meant to support minority homebuyers.

In an open letter to Sandra L. Thompson, President Biden’s nominee for director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, two longtime advocates of the Federal Home Loan banks suggest a new path forward.

The guarantor of mortgage-backed securities has been without a Senate-confirmed president for four and a half years. The vacancy makes it difficult for other government agencies to coordinate housing objectives, according to stakeholders.