Food for Thought is a speaker series that discuss the Covid-19 crisis and social justice reform at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Our Chief Research Office Richard Koss will give a talk at this forum on Wednesday, September 22 at 12PM EST about housing policy changes during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
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“The onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic represents a massive shock impacting all sectors of the global economy. It has been particularly felt in the real estate sector as households reconsider their work/living arrangements and adjust their lives accordingly. It has also greatly exacerbated the trend towards wealth inequality. The new Biden Administration and other government agencies, notably the Federal Reserve, are engaging in innovative policy making to improve the functioning of the economy, expand access to credit and provide affordable rental housing to low-income households. What are the barriers to success facing these programs and what more needs to be done?”  
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MSCI has just released a report “Managing Against MBS Indexes: A Duration Perspective[1]” that details the reasons that the MBS Index duration extended dramatically even though the 30-year mortgage rate was little changed over the period from June 2020 – June 2021. Six main factors are examined in the article to have impacts on MBS index duration.  

​One of the main factors, the distribution of coupon drift due to record refinance activity, was documented using Recursion data.

Support of cutting-edge research is one of our proudest activities. To learn more contact us at inquiry@recursionco.com.

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We are delighted to announce our partnership with Clear Capital, a national real estate valuation and analytics fintech leader.
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Founded in Truckee, California, Clear Capital provides automated valuation and underwriting solutions for the real estate market, as well as portfolio valuations for mortgage servicers. Recursion‘s over 30 million loan-level mortgage records across hundreds of data points will help Clear Capital produce even more accurate valuation models and timely solutions. We are excited to work with Clear Capital to apply the most advanced fintech tools to address the mortgage and real estate industry’s most pressing challenges.

Read More - Press Release by Clear Capital

​Recursion’s Chief Research Officer Richard Koss published an article in Housing Wire Magazine on agency mortgage forbearance and the capital markets. When the CARES act was originally passed on March 27, 2020, there were notable concerns that these measures would merely postpone an inevitable correction in the housing market once the programs expired. However, home price appreciation came to the rescue. But the mortgage market continues to face the prospect of involuntary buyouts of loans from agency pools. Check out the details at:
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/the-end-of-forbearance-and-the-capital-markets/

On January 19, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on “Climate and Natural Disaster Risk Management at the Regulated Entities”[1]. This RFI was issued as “A growing body of research is studying the risks that climate change and natural disasters pose to the stability of the economy, the financial system, the national housing finance markets, and FHFA’s regulated entities.” There are two main policy topics in which FHFA is seeking comment:

  1. Identifying and Assessing Climate and Natural Disaster Risk

• This includes the identification of “methodologies, datasets, variables, assumptions, future climate scenarios, and measurement tools are used to measure and monitor climate risk to the national housing finance markets”.​

  2. Enhancing FHFA’s Supervisory and Regulatory Framework

• This includes the question “Are there policies the regulated entities could pursue to mitigate such adverse effects for minority borrowers exposed to climate and natural disaster risk?”

Recursion joined with a consortium of experts in this field, including the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Roosevelt Institute, the Carbon-Free Buildings Program and the Vulnerable Communities Initiative Inc that submitted a comment letter to FHFA Director Calabria on April 19[2].

This letter spelled out a statement of principles that reflect Recursion’s mission of building “Data Democracy”, including:

• Decision making must be data-driven. High-quality data is a prerequisite for any accurate analysis, projection, and decision. This includes not only quantitative statistics but also qualitative data, such as case studies, interviews and lessons learned that capture the meaning and context of information.
• Make data free, transparent, and accessible. Government, Enterprise and FHLBank-produced data are public goods and they create maximized economic benefits when they are open. Equal access to high-quality climate-risk data helps level the playing field for the average consumer and local communities to make better decisions. Determine the specifications for disclosures of loan-level mortgage data (e.g. geography, demographics, underwriting) needed to align with climate-risk data to ensure that the information needed to accomplish climate policy goals is available. Researchers can provide valuable feedback to help maintain the dataset’s quality and improve government’s data management practices.

We are pleased to work with such distinguished colleagues on this important topic.

Recursion has met the criteria set by the M/WBE Program at the New York City Department of Small Business Services to be certified as a Minority Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE). 

​Debtwire quotes Recursion data showing a large uptick in LoanDepot’s Ginnie Mae portfolio over the month of February.  In early reporting for March 2021, LoanDepot’s involuntary prepayment speed, or 1-month CDR, reached 20.6 percent.

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​Recursion Co recently provided commentary in response to a Request for Information (RFI) regarding appraisal policies, practices, and processes. We comment on how big data technology can be applied to monitor the performance of loans where appraisals have been waived compared to a benchmark of eligible loans where traditional appraisals have been utilized. In addition, we provide a framework for analyzing how these tools can address issues such as the impact of new processes on fairness and the safety and soundness of the system of mortgage finance from such topics as environmental vulnerability.