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The Last 1/3 of Q3
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
NOTE TO READERS: If you haven’t noticed, we’ve made a couple of changes to how we present InGeniusly Speaking every week. If you have found that the format doesn’t work with your email account, you can click “Read Online” in the upper right next to the date and you will be able to easily see and read the edition.
Also, we’re giving you links to what we find most interesting each week so you can quickly jump to and read what grabs you most. We’d like to think everyone reads every word, but we’re not delusional.
Happy Monday!
The InGeniusly Speaking Team
Table of Contents
CHATTER
Biggest IPO Ever?
Banks Advise 5% Fannie-Freddie IPO
FHFA Chair Bill Pulte covered a lot of ground in a Fox Business interview with Maria Bartiromo. He commented on taking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s assertions that it will likely be the largest IPO in history. Pulte said the deal will “…extract value from [the GSEs] for the benefit of the U.S. taxpayers.”
Pulte went on to say that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is starving the US economy of investments worth trillions of dollars.
HW Reports IMBs Worried About GSEs Going Private, Sends Letter to Treasury/FHFA
“A conservatorship exit could create incentives to return to practices which unfairly favor mega-lenders,” the letter states. “Thus, the PSPA G-fee parity/cash window provisions should be retained and incorporated to the strongest degree possible in the legal framework used for any GSE conservatorship exit.”
The signatories of the letter — spearheaded by the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) — are IMBs, a group of lenders that account for 83% of all mortgage originations and 75% of all loans sold to Fannie and Freddie. Their requests are aimed at preserving a level playing field for smaller lenders.
House-hacking to Get Easier?
Freddie Mac Loosens Reqs for 2-4 Unit Properties
The GSE increased the maximum loan-to-value (LTV), total LTV and Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) TLTV (HTLTV) ratios to 95% for Accept Mortgages that are purchase or “no cash-out” refinance transactions secured by a 2- to 4-unit Primary Residence.
MBA CEO on Trump Signing Trigger Leads Bill
“This new law is a major victory for mortgage borrowers that will protect them from the barrage of unwanted calls, texts, and emails they too often received immediately after applying for a mortgage. It will create a more efficient, responsible, and respectful home buying process when it goes into effect on March 5, 2026.” - MBA's President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB
CFPB Proposes Rule to Standardize Supervision of Non-Banks (NMP)
The story explains how this measure could eliminate some of the most frustrating aspects of how the bureau operates and tame "regulation by enforcement."
Americans Only: Non-permanent Residents Ineligible for Section 184 Program
Under this interim final rule, HUD is excluding “non-permanent resident alien[s]” from participation in the Section 184 Program by removing existing 24 CFR 1005.405(a)(3). This update aligns HUD's requirements with recent executive actions that emphasize the prioritization of federal resources to protect the financial interests of American citizens and ensure the integrity of government-insured loan programs.
FHFA Blesses Fannie & Freddie Approval of Rocket's Acquisition of Mr. Cooper: …"with appropriate guard rails."
Bridge Loan Boom: Knock Issued $100M Securitization
"Buy before you sell" tech company Knock announced the successful close of its inaugural $100M securitization. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. served as the initial purchaser and bookrunner for the transaction. Knock also announced that the company is now profitable. The $100M bond issuance will be used exclusively to fund Knock’s Bridge Loan products.
Newrez Parent Rithm Capital to Acquire Crestline Management, L.P.
“Crestline” is an alternative investment manager with approximately $17 billion in assets under management.The transaction is expected to close in Q425, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
ATTOM Data Released "Propensity to Default" White Paper
The company is promoting its "Powerlytics" and scoring model that shows 'more or less likely to default by decile.'
Bev Hills House Husband Goes After NAR (Again)
Celeb Agent Revives Lawsuit, NAR Returns Fire (Inman)
Bev Hills Husband and real estate broker Mauricio Umansky and his ThePLS.com originally sued the National Association of Realtors in 2020, and reinitiated the litigation in July of this year. ThePLS.com is
a private listing network formed by Mauricio Umansky and others claims NAR crushes competition with its Clear Cooperation policy.
In its response to ThePLS.com’s claims, NAR denied allegations that the association controlled competition in the industry by way of its members’ ownership of MLSs. NAR slso denied most other allegations included in the initial complaint.
Blockchain lender Figure Technologies is seeking $4.13B in upcoming IPO: Is seeking to raise $526M through share sale on Nasdaq.
MOVING & SHAKING
NEXA Mortgage hired former college baseball player and coach John Flores as National Sales Director, and Geri Farr as Chief Growth Officer.
Livegage appointed Michael Blair as COO.
MARKET/INDUSTRY
Mortgage Rates Tumble: Freddie 9-4-25
Mortgage rates continue to trend down, increasing optimism for new buyers and current owners alike. As rates continue to drop, the number of homeowners who have the opportunity to refinance is expanding. In fact, the share of market mortgage applications that were for a refinance reached nearly 47%, the highest since October.
We Got Good News Because of Bad News
After we hit the lowest rate of the year last week, Bill Bodnar discusses the jobs report that came out as well as what we should watch this week in his latest Master the Markets segment.
Mortgage Applications Decreased 1.2% from One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 8-29-25.
Trickle, Not a Surge: That’s how Redfin characterizes buyer activity in wake of rate declines.
Stunted Growth: US Homeowner Population Stops Growing for 1st Time in a Decade
The number of homeowner households in America fell 0.1% year over year to an estimated 86.2 million in the second quarter, according to a new report from Redfin. While that’s a marginal decline, it’s the first since 2016.
By comparison, the number of renter households rose 2.6% to an estimated 46.4M—one of the largest increases in recent years.
The median home sale price rose 1.4% year over year in July to $443,867—the highest July level on record.
S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index for June says housing wealth gains decreased for the second consecutive month, with home price gains of 1.9% trailing consumer inflation of 2.7%, eroding housing wealth.
Affordable In, Investors Out
Most Affordable Homes Hit Market Since 2022: Zillow
In July 2025, about 439,000 homes were affordable to a median-income household. That’s the most since August 2022 and 20% higher than a year ago.
The growth in affordable listings comes primarily from an overall inventory recovery that has slowed price growth — total inventory is up 18% from last year. Only 31.7% of listings were affordable in July 2025, similar to last year and far below the 53.7% share in July 2020.
More than half of July listings were affordable to the typical household in Buffalo (55.1%), St. Louis (54.5%), Pittsburgh (54.3%), Detroit (52.8%) and Cleveland (50.1%).
Q2 Had Biggest Drop in Investor Purchases Since 2023: Redfin
U.S. real estate investors purchased roughly 52,000 homes in Q2, the lowest level for that time of year since 2020, according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket. That’s down 6% from a year earlier, the biggest drop since the fourth quarter of 2023.
The typical investor earned $195,934 in capital gains via selling a home in the second quarter, up 1.7% year over year. For comparison, at the start of 2021, investor capital gains were up more than 30% year over year as investors snapped up properties and quickly sold them for a big profit during a time of booming homebuying demand.
Age & Homeownership: LendingTree Says Average Homeowner is 50+
Average homeowner age: 50.75
Average renter age: 44.72
Average U.S. population: 39.10
Median monthly housing costs (with mortgage): $2,229
Median gross rent: $1,515
Metros with oldest homeowners: Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami
Metros with youngest homeowners: Salt Lake City, Austin TX, Oklahoma City
NMP Story Claims Gen Z is Choosing Stocks & Crypto Over Homes
The What: Gen Z’s preference toward investing is dramatic. According to the JPMorgan Chase Institute, the share of 25-year-olds with investment accounts jumped from just 6% in 2015 to 37% as of last year. That represents a sixfold increase in less than a decade, driven by the rise of zero-commission trading, social media financial influencers, and pandemic-era savings that many young adults funneled into the stock market instead of housing.
The Why (based on Redfin data):
Affordability: Median home prices hit $412,000 in 2024, compared with $120,000 in 2000. Wage growth simply hasn’t kept up.
Financing costs: With 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaging around 6.6% this summer, the monthly payment burden has locked out many younger buyers.
Student debt and credit standards: A heavier student loan burden means weaker debt-to-income ratios, while stricter underwriting guidelines make approvals harder.