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Ed Brady, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill., today issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s Feb. 5 comments on the January jobs report:

The 2016 National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors is now in place. The Executive Team includes Stephen T. Ayers, FAIA, LEED AP as chair; Joseph Donovan as vice chair; Joy Marshall Ortiz, AIA, NCARB as secretary; and Wally E. Bailey as treasurer. New members to the Board include Paul R. Bertram, Jr., FCSI, CDT, LEED AP BD+C, GGP, and Anne M. Ellis, PE, FACI, FASCE.

On December 18, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a proposed rule that would implement the long delayed “Duty to Serve” rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs). The proposal requires them to adopt plans to improve mortgage financing for residential properties that serve very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in three underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural markets.

Mortgage credit availability decreased in January according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) which analyzes data from Ellie Mae's AllRegs® Market Clarity® business information tool.

The metric, Fair Market Rents, is set each year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The most prevalent use of Fair Market Rents is to establish payment standards, which are local ceilings for rent assistance provided by the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program.

Mortgage applications decreased 2.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 29, 2016. The previous week's results included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday.

On February 2, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 3700(link is external) (the Housing Opportunities through Modernization Act), making a number of basic administrative changes to public housing, housing choice vouchers and project-based rental assistance. The changes are similar to those proposed in the Section Eight Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA) and the Affordable Housing and Self-Sufficiency Improvement Act (AHSSIA) in years past

In January, during Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Conference and Expo, the Institute’sAcademy for Healthcare Infrastructure (AHI) released five white papers addressing some of the most important issues affecting the infrastructure of the nation’s healthcare facilities

Housing Partnership Network, a national business collaborative of leading affordable housing and community development nonprofits, is pleased to announce that Chuck Wehrwein has joined the organization as president of member engagement and business collaboration. In his new role, Chuck will lead and oversee membership, policy, governance, and the International Housing Partnership. He will serve as a member of HPN’s Executive Leadership Team and play a key role in managing collaboration among HPN programs and member-driven social enterprises. Chuck begins his role with HPN in March.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to advance legislation that will expand opportunities for homeownership. H.R. 3700, the "Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act," includes a number of initiatives that have strong support from the National Association of Realtors®, who hailed the vote as important progress for home buyers and sellers.

More than 110,000 housing industry professionals packed the aisles at Design & Construction Week,[tm] held Jan. 19-22 in Las Vegas. This marked the third year of the co-located mega-event, which included the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders' Show (IBS), the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, the International Window Coverings Expo and The International Surface Event.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) welcomed the news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restored $3 million in program funding to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and sees it as another step to get the Commonwealth back on track toward its clean water commitments

David H. Stevens, CMB, President & CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, released the following statement applauding FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on their work to finalize the independent dispute resolution program, which is the capstone of the revised representation and warranty framework

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today awarded Cathy Pharis, Managing Director and Head of FHA Platform for Wells Fargo Multifamily Captial (WFMC), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., with the 2016 Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF) Distinguished Service Award at the Association's 26th annual CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo held in Orlando, FL.

Consumers Energy awarded commemorative signs to 33 Michigan Centennial and Sesquicentennial Farms in 2015, recognizing them as being working farms owned by the same families for 100 and 150 years.

David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today delivered the following remarks at the association's 26th Annual Commercial/Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing (CREF) Convention & Expo

A Chinese auto parts maker that is building a $140 million production facility in Greenville is the 1,000th business to benefit from a Consumers Energy program that rewards energy-saving measures in new construction projects.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its year-end ranking of commercial and multifamily mortgage servicers' volumes as of December 31, 2015. At the top of the list of firms is Wells Fargo Bank N.A. with $501.5 billion in U.S. master and primary servicing, followed by PNC Real Estate/Midland Loan Services with $485.2 billion, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC with $225.0 billion, KeyBank N.A. with $195.7 billion, and GEMSA Loan Services, L.P. with $101.5 billion.

David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced today that the trade group is collaborating with Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management as they offer a six-month Executive Certificate in Commercial Real Estate, beginning in March 2016. The program aims to accelerate higher-level career opportunities for commercial real estate professionals.