The release yesterday of FHFA’s report on Agency Guarantee Fees prompted some of the discussion here in Kansas City among mortgage folks about how challenging things have become, especially with rates and pricing. Sure, there are opportunities, but things are tough. Do you think your job is tough? How about this reporter’s? Do you think you’re good at your job, finding borrowers, processing loans, drawing docs, selling the loans, whatever? Really good? This video speaks volumes about someone who is really, really good at their job. Despite millions of millennials still needing affordable housing, many builders think things are tough. The NAHB Housing Market Index hit 33 in November. What does that mean? Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its 11th straight monthly decline in November, dropping five points to 33, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released yesterday. This is the lowest confidence reading since June 2012, with the exception of the onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. (Today’s podcast is available here and this week’s is sponsored by MCT Investor Services, which helps investors scale their seller base, automate the bid process, source whole loan and flow co-issue production, automate AOTs, and analyze performance all in a cost-effective manner. Interview with Jay Beitel of Polunsky Beitel Green on the ruling that the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unconstitutional and its potential impact on the industry.)