(RECAP: There is a lot of optimism about the Virginia real estate market, according to a new poll conducted by Roanoke College. The results were a reversal of the negative attitudes about the market seen in many previous polls. Still, buyers and sellers reported increased caution about future markets, citing concerns about rising mortgage rates and real estate prices, the poll said. Optimism about real estate conditions was up 6 percent since the last quarter’s survey, with close to 32 percent of respondents feeling more optimistic than pessimistic about the market.)

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(RECAP: In mid-May, HUD announced that some changes were coming to its Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP), the program through which the Department sells deeply delinquent, non-performing loans. Now it’s the FHFA’s turn, as the Agency has announced that it will make some changes to its non-performing loan (NPL) sales programs that will bring more transparency to the process by making more data public, including information on trends at the individual pool level. Special adviser to the FHFA Eric Stein said FHFA anticipates publishing the data by the end of June. Housing analysts have contended since the sales started that the FHFA should release more data on the GSEs’ NPL sales in order to more effectively evaluate the sales to see if what changes, if any, need to be made.)

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(RECAP: Early last year, the Obama Administration shook up the housing world when it ordered the Federal Housing Administration to cut its annual mortgage insurance premiums by 50 basis points, from 1.35% to 0.85%. The effect of the cut was widespread and significant, as the FHA’s mortgage insurance business exploded in 2015 and the FHA really reached its Congressionally mandated threshold of 2% on its flagship Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund years ahead of the FHA’s own predictions. But is the FHA about to do it again? That’s the scuttlebutt around Washington, according to analysts from Compass Point Research & Trading, and the noise surrounding another cut is apparently getting louder.)

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