Housing Market Recap (excerpted from Gate House’s weekly note to clients)

Fed Chairman Jay Powell is on the Hill delivering the Fed’s semiannual report on monetary policy to the Senate and House. He told the House Committee the Fed is likely to raise interest rates in the coming months but at a slower pace than they have moved over the past year, weighing the risk that the combination of their 10 … Read More

Housing Market Recap (excerpted from Gate House’s weekly note to clients)

We are awaiting the Fed Board’s decision on interest rates Wednesday afternoon, when they are expected to pause, albeit with a hawkish tone, signaling they may not be done with rate hikes this year, and in fact lean toward keeping rates higher for longer to quell lingering inflation, before deciding to go lower late in the year.   As we’ve … Read More

Gate House Partners Weigh in on Challenges in the Reverse Mortgage Market

In their recent article for Reverse Mortgage Daily, Gate House Partners Keith Becker, Dror Oppenheimer, and Michael Marshall discuss the pressures in the housing finance market relative to reverse or home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs), suggesting action is needed to avoid further failures of Ginnie Mae HECM servicers and issuers. If reverse servicers and “issuers”  are a … Read More

The Positive Capital Ratio for the HECM Program Is No Time for Complacency

In their recent article for Reverse Mortgage Daily, Gate House Founding Partners Brian Montgomery, Keith Becker and Dror Oppenheimer discuss the implications of the first positive capital ratio for the HECM program in six years. The Gate House team, who worked together at the Federal Housing Administration managing the HECM program, provided their unique perspective and explained … Read More

FHA Should Prepare for the Next Storm, Hold Steady on Premiums

Gate House Chairman Brian Montgomery and CEO Keith Becker recently opined in the M Report on the favorable condition of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. In their article, Montgomery and Becker argue that FHA must be prepared to weather adverse events in the future similar to the wake of the Financial Crisis in 2008 or the COVID-19 … Read More

Reflections on a Career in Public Service

Reflecting on his long career in public service, Gate House Chairman Brian Montgomery spoke with DS News about the key lessons he has learned over the years.  Montgomery’s remarkable journey, which began driving in a Vice Presidential motorcade in his home state of Texas, took him to the White House, back to Texas to the Governor’s Mansion, … Read More

HECM Program Has Evolved as Secretary Held Has Grown, Servicing Challenges Rise

Gate House Chairman Brian Montgomery recently spoke with Chris Clow of Reverse Mortgage Daily to discuss HUD’s reverse mortgage (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage or “HECM”) program and the impact of that program in the recent budget request.The growth in the Secretary-held HECM portfolio which has been significant in recent years, and the challenges presented to servicing that … Read More

Two Weeks On

Happy Friday. After completing a remarkable first two weeks for Gate House Strategies, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone with whom we’ve had the pleasure of engaging and many others who have been in touch.   Already, the firm has forged meaningful partnerships with longtime colleagues in the housing market and beyond, rekindled … Read More