The Good, Bad and Ugly of the Mass. Spring 2026 Housing Market
The Massachusetts housing market is starting to wake up after a long, chilly stretch. Here’s what could make – or break – the spring selling season.
Local Bank Employees Named Rising Mortgage Stars
Aidan Sullivan, secondary market analyst at The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, has been named the 2024 “Rising Star of the Year” by the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association.
Mass. Legislators Shield Shared Appreciation Mortgage Lenders from Lawsuits
Language shielding lenders of an unusual type of mortgage from lawsuits got included in the state’s big economic development bill this week over the objections of the state’s biggest mortgage-lender trade group.
Real Estate Groups, Chambers of Commerce Urge Senate to Skip Transfer Taxes
The top banking and real estate groups in Massachusetts have teamed up with a pair of business groups to plead with state senators to pass on proposed new real estate transfer taxes.
Advocate Says Not Enough Mortgage Companies Offer FHA Alternatives
A new analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data shows too many Black and Latino first-time homebuyers are still using expensive FHA loans when much cheaper local options exist, a major housing advocacy group says.
The Wait for RON Goes On
Before Massachusetts mortgage borrowers get to use newly legalized remote online notarization, they’ll have to wait the rest of the year for state officials to create guidelines for these transactions.
Bankers Trek to Beacon Hill to Highlight ARMs, Homeownership Concerns.
With 188 bills on the group’s radar and 24 of them before the committee that he co-chairs, Sen. Paul Feeney joked Tuesday that the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association and Executive Director Deborah Sousa have season tickets to hearings of the Joint Committee on Financial Services.
Remote Notarization Evolves Amid Push to Make It Permanent
Industry groups want Massachusetts to join most other states in making remote online notarization not only permanent, but more advanced than the practice that became common during the pandemic.
Reverse Mortgage Industry Wants Temporary Provisions Extended
Temporary provisions that industry members say have kept reverse mortgages available in Massachusetts during the pandemic expired last month, prompting calls legislative action to extend the provisions.
Sudden Juneteenth Declaration Disrupts Mass. Mortgage Lenders
As millions of Americans – many of them Black – celebrated the landmark arrival of a federal holiday marking Juneteenth Friday, many in the mortgage industry were scrambling.
Report: Mortgage Delinquencies Took a Dive in March
Only 217,000 residential mortgage-holders became past-due in March, according to a new report from Black Knight, the lowest on record.
Refinance Activity Up Last Week
Mortgage refinance applications in the U.S. increased last week, bringing new activity to the highest level since August, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
GSEs to Delay Refinance Fee Until December
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has delayed a new mortgage refinancing fee scheduled to take effect next week and added exemptions for certain loans, moves applauded by local and national trade groups.
Financial Industry Comes Out Against Eviction Freeze Extension
The Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association has come out against efforts to extend the state’s eviction moratorium past its Aug. 18 expiration date, saying “we strongly feel [it] will have an adverse impact to lending and recovery in Massachusetts.”
COVID Homebuyers Face 90-Day Deadline Smoke Detector Inspections
Anyone who bought a home in Massachusetts since the start of the coronavirus pandemic now faces a countdown clock to get their homes’ smoke and carbon monoxide detectors inspected.
Will Chase’s Mortgage Pullback Spread to Other Lenders?
As mortgage servicers confront liquidity issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the industry is waiting to see whether recent moves by lenders and investors would exacerbate the crisis and restrict borrowers’ access to credit.
Home Appraisal Rules Could Slow Refi Boom
COVID-19 fears among appraisers and homeowners are threatening to partially derail a surge in refinancings in Massachusetts at a time when many residents may be looking for ways to save.
Mass. Mortgage Bankers Blast FHFA: ‘Consumers Are Paying the Price’
The trade group representing Massachusetts’ mortgage industry fired a broadside at one of the top federal housing regulators.
Lenders Grapple with Troubled Borrowers, Mortgage Outlook
As the metastasizing COVID-19 public health crisis has threatened to turn into an economic disaster, lenders have had to move quickly to help their small business borrowers find ways to stay solvent.
Personnel File
From new VPs to fresh project managers, see who’s been hired, promoted and honored: it’s The Personnel File.
