(RECAP: The data revolution that has changed business, health care and sports over the past few decades is coming to the federal government–and it brings the same potential benefits and hazards. Analytics–or data-driven choice-making–continued to make inroads into the federal realm March 30 when President Barack Obama signed H.R. 1831, the Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act of 2016. It is landmark legislation, but how it’s implemented will be even more significant. The thought is simple: Make a way to use data to measure the effectiveness of government programs. Take policy decisions from strictly an ideological realm to a fact-based, results-based one. Like all policy, the devil is in the details–and in this case, the details are significant, with major implications for the tax credit community.)

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(RECAP: Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, showing average fixed mortgage rates dropping to new 2016 lows in the wake of the Brexit vote. At 3.48 percent, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is only 17 basis points from its November 2012 all-time record low of 3.31 percent. Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac. “In the wake of the Brexit vote, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond plummeted 24 basis points. The 30-year mortgage rate declined as well, but not by as much, falling 8 basis points to 3.48 percent. This week’s survey rate is the lowest since May 2013 and only 17 basis points above the all-time low recorded in November 2012. This extremely low mortgage rate should support solid home sales and refinancing volume this summer.”)

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(RECAP: A federal program that sold more than 100,000 soured mortgages to private investors at discounted prices is getting a major overhaul. Changes announced by federal housing officials on Thursday follow months of criticism from legislators and housing advocates that the buyers of the loans have not done enough to keep struggling borrowers in their homes. The housing officials said that private investment firms buying delinquent mortgages would have to consider reducing the total amount of money owed on a mortgage as part of potential modification to make a loan more affordable. This represents a significant change in a government program that started in earnest four years ago in the wake of the housing crisis.)

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