Monday Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at news coming across HousingWire’s weekend desk, with more coverage to come on larger issues.
Rising rates could cause mortgage payments to increase up to 8.4% in 2019, adding to an already problematic affordability issue for homebuyers across the nation, according to the S&P Global Ratings’ latest housing market update.
The report points out that over the last year, the mortgage payment growth rate has exceeded the numbers seen for home price appreciation and that this trend is going to continue into 2019.
S&P Global’s report cites CoreLogic data, forecasting that mortgage rates will increase 0.5% year-over-year through August of 2019, which suggests, according to the group's analysis, the median home sale price will increase 1.9% during that time period.
Does this mean that home prices are going to even out?
S&P Global’s analysts explain that despite the strong economy, affordability problems are still a front-and-center problem for multiple markets across the U.S. but notes that for the second month in a row, the rate of home price gains slowed. This can be seen in last month’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which reported that annual gains in September fell below 6% for the first time in a year.
On Saturday, former President George H.W. Bush passed away at age 94. Bush served as the 41st U.S. president from 1989 to 1993. He was the patriarch of the Bush family, which saw his sons, George W. and Jeb, become the 43rd president and governor of Florida, respectively. In memory of the former president, the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange announced that markets will be closed on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump's declaration that federal agencies will close on Wednesday for a national day of mourning.
The former student loan ombudsman from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who resigned, rebuking Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s actions at the bureau while on his way out the door has a new gig.
Seth Frotman, who resigned from his position at the CFPB in late August, has launched a new organization that seeks to protect student loan borrowers. The Student Borrower Protection Center launched last week to protect consumers from predatory lending practices and, according to this video, “a federal government enabling these abuses.”
According to an interview with MarketWatch, Frotman said launched the organization because the issues he oversaw at the CFPB were “too important to just walk away from.”
From the article:
“The new organization, including the folks from my team who were on the front lines of standing up for borrowers and fighting back against the student debt crisis are committed to continuing that work with anyone and everyone who sees the impact this is having,” Frotman said in a phone interview from Albany after testifying on student loan issues to the New York State legislature.
In other news, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it settled charges with professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and musician DJ Khaled for failing to disclose payments the entertainers received for promoting initial coin offering investments.
According to the SEC, Mayweather failed to disclose that he received $300,000 from three different ICO issuers, including $100,000 from Centra Tech. Khaled failed to disclose a payment of $50,000 from the same company.
According to the SEC’s statement, Mayweather and Khaled's promoted the ICO on their social media accounts, and the promotions came after the SEC issued its warning in 2017 that coins sold in ICOs may be securities and that those who offer and sell securities in the U.S. must comply with federal securities laws.
The SEC announced that Mayweather and Khaled did not admit or deny the commission’s findings and agreed to pay disgorgement, penalties and interest. Mayweather agreed to pay $300,000 in disgorgement, a $300,000 penalty and $14,775 in prejudgment interest, and Khaled agreed to pay $50,000 in disgorgement, a $100,000 penalty and $2,725 in prejudgment interest, according to the SEC’s release. Additionally, Mayweather agreed to not promote any securities, digital or otherwise, for three years, and Khaled agreed to a similar two-year ban.
What’s more, the SEC also filed a civil action against Centra Tech's founders in April, alleging that its ICO was fraudulent.
"These cases highlight the importance of full disclosure to investors," Enforcement Division Co-Director Stephanie Avakian said in the SEC’s release. "With no disclosure about the payments, Mayweather and Khaled's ICO promotions may have appeared to be unbiased, rather than paid endorsements."
Khaled and Mayweather aren’t the first celebrities to get entangled with allegedly fraudulent ICOs.
Earlier this year, boxer Evander Holyfield signed an agreement AriseBank to promote its ICO, which the SEC later halted, alleging that AriseBank misled investors on the nature of the company, its intentions, its actions, and the criminal histories of one of its founders. Additionally, the company’s CEO is now facing allegations that he stole more than $4 million from the company’s investors.
Looking further ahead to this week, we may finally see Kathy Kraninger's confirmed as the new director of the CFPB, taking over from Acting Director Mulvaney. Last week, Kraninger cleared the Senate’s cloture vote and the final vote on her nomination is expected soon.
Have a great week everyone!
