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Homebuying and Selling Sentiment Remain Polarized

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Seventy-Five Percent of Consumers Believe It’s a Good Time to Sell The Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) decreased 3.9 points to 75.8 in July, as consumers continue to report concerns related to high home prices and a lack of homes for sale. While all six components declined month over month, the “Good Time to Buy” and “Good Time to Sell” components once again produced the most notable results. On the buy-side, 66 percent of respondents said it’s a bad time to buy a home, up from 64 percent last month; while on the sell-side, 75 percent of respondents said it’s a good time to sell, down slightly from 77 percent last month. Year over year, the overall index is up 1.6 points. “Historically prime homebuying groups appear to be increasingly sensitive to the lack of affordability, as home prices continue to increase and homes for sale remain in short supply,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “While all surveyed consumer segments have reported increased pessimism toward homebuying conditions over the past several months, two of the segments perhaps best positioned to purchase — consumers aged 35-44 and those with middle-to-higher income levels – have indicated even more pessimism than other groups.” “Overall, the HPSI remains within a tight range established a few months after the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Consumer sentiment toward homebuying hit yet another survey low in July, continuing the sharp downward trend established in March. The percentage of respondents citing high home prices as the top reason for it being a ‘bad time to buy’ also reached an all-time high. On the flip side, selling sentiment remains extremely high, and well above pre-pandemic levels, for the same commonly cited reason: high home prices.” Home Purchase Sentiment Index – Component Highlights Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) decreased in July by 3.9 points to 75.8. The HPSI is up 1.6 points compared to the same time last year. Read the full research report for additional information. Good/Bad Time to Buy: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy a home decreased from 32% to 28%, while the percentage who say it is a bad time to buy increased from 64% to 66%. As a result, the net share of those who say it is a good time to buy decreased 6 percentage points month over month. Good/Bad Time to Sell: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to sell a home decreased from 77% to 75%, while the percentage who say it’s a bad time to sell increased from 15% to 20%. As a result, the net share of those who say it is a good time to sell decreased 7 percentage points month over month. Home Price Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months decreased from 48% to 46%, while the percentage who say home prices will go down remained unchanged at 21%. The share who think home prices will stay the same increased from 25% to 27%. As a result, the net share of Americans who say home prices will go up decreased 2 percentage points month over month. Mortgage Rate Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months decreased from 6% to 5%, while the percentage who expect mortgage rates to go up remained unchanged at 57%. The share who think mortgage rates will stay the same increased from 30% to 31%. As a result, the net share of Americans who say mortgage rates will go down over the next 12 months decreased 1 percentage point month over month. Job Concerns: The percentage of respondents who say they are not concerned about losing their job in the next 12 months decreased from 88% to 84%, while the percentage who say they are concerned increased from 11% to 13%. As a result, the net share of Americans who say they are not concerned about losing their job decreased 6 percentage points month over month. Household Income: The percentage of respondents who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago remained unchanged at 27%, while the percentage who say their household income is significantly lower increased from 13% to 14%. The percentage who say their household income is about the same remained unchanged at 56%. As a result, the net share of those who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago decreased 1 percentage point month over month. About Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index The Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) distills information about consumers’ home purchase sentiment from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS) into a single number. The HPSI reflects consumers’ current views and forward-looking expectations of housing market conditions and complements existing data sources to inform housing-related analysis and decision making. The HPSI is constructed from answers to six NHS questions that solicit consumers’ evaluations of housing market conditions and address topics that are related to their home purchase decisions. The questions ask consumers whether they think that it is a good or bad time to buy or to sell a house, what direction they expect home prices and mortgage interest rates to move, how concerned they are about losing their jobs, and whether their incomes are higher than they were a year earlier. Detailed HPSI & NHS Findings For detailed findings from the July 2021 Home Purchase Sentiment Index and National Housing Survey, as well as a brief HPSI overview and detailed white paper, technical notes on the NHS methodology, and questions asked of respondents associated with each monthly indicator, please visit the Surveys page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site are in-depth special topic studies, which provide a detailed assessment of combined data results from three monthly studies of NHS results. About Fannie Mae Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of people in America. We partner with

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New Report From HouseCanary Shows Affordable Properties Remain Out of Reach Due to Tight Supply, Steep Prices

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Lack of Housing Inventory Persists – And Number of Affordable Homes Listed Below $200K Continues to Fall Nationwide Supply Shortage Continues to Drive Prices Higher, With Median Closed Price of Single-Family Listings Up 21.3% Year-Over-Year In July, 7.3% Fewer Listings Went Under Contract Compared to the Year Prior, Signaling That Record-High Home Prices May Be Causing Some Buyers to Retreat HouseCanary, Inc. (“HouseCanary”), a national brokerage known for its real estate valuation accuracy, released its latest Market Pulse report, covering 22 listing-derived metrics and comparing data between July 2020 and July 2021. The Market Pulse is an ongoing review of proprietary data and insights from HouseCanary’s nationwide platform. Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HouseCanary, commented: “The nationwide inventory shortage continues to dominate the current market, but the narrowing chasm between net new listings and the number of listings under contract is a positive sign that the supply-demand imbalance is slowly diminishing. In the meantime, as we’ve observed throughout the pandemic, properties below $200K are significantly underperforming as the confluence of strong demand and limited inventory has led to record-high home prices – even in areas that were once considered affordable. Although mortgage rates dipped slightly in July, many prospective homebuyers appeared unable to take advantage due to expensive valuations and limited supply.” Select findings from this month’s Market Pulse are below. Be sure to review the Market Pulse in full for extensive state-level data. Total Net New Listings: Since July 2020, there have been 3,073,143 net new listings placed on the market, which is a 12.3% increase versus the same period in 2019 Percentage of total net new listings over the last 52 weeks, broken down by home price: $0-$200k: 19.0% $200k-$400k: 41.7% $400k-$600k: 20.0% $600k-$1mm: 12.8% >$1mm: 6.5% Percent change in net new listing activity over the last 52 weeks versus the same period in 2019, broken down by home price: $0-$200k: (-17.4%) $200k-$400k: +4.0% $400k-$600k: +37.6% $600k-$1mm: +64.1% >$1mm: +77.9% Monthly Net New Listing Volume (Single-Family Detached Homes): Monthly new listing volume was down 3.7% compared to July 2020 In July, there were 319,418 net new listings placed on the market, representing a 3.8% decrease year-over-year Percent change in net new listing activity year-over-year, broken down by home price: $0-$200k: (-16.4%) $200k-$400k: (-10.8%) $400k-$600k: +11.2% $600k-$1mm: +19.6% >$1mm: +7.5% Listings Under Contract: Over the last 52 weeks, 3,330,913 properties have gone into contract, representing a 7.4% increase relative to the same period in 2019 Percentage of total contract volume since July 2020, broken down by home price: $0-$200k: 19.2% $200k-$400k: 42.0% $400k-$600k: 19.7% $600k-$1mm: 12.5% >$1mm: 6.6% Percent change in contract volume over the last 52 weeks versus the same period in 2019, broken down by home price: $0-$200k: (-21.6%) $200k-$400k: +0.6% $400k-$600k: +30.7% $600k-$1mm: +56.2% >$1mm: +76.8% Monthly Contract Volume (Single-Family Detached Homes): For the month of July, there were 350,182 listings that went under contract nationwide, which is a 7.3% decrease year-over-year For the month of July, the percent change in contract volume compared to July 2020, broken down by home price: $0-$200k: (-18.8%) $200k-$400k: (-13.3%) $400k-$600k: +3.8% $600k-$1mm: +13.0% >$1mm: +9.0% Median Listing Price Activity (Single-Family Detached Homes): For the week ending July 30, 2021, the median price of all single-family listings in the U.S. was $386,681, a 10.4% increase year-over-year For the week ending July 30, 2021, the median closed price of single-family listings in the U.S. was $394,541,a 21.3% increase year-over-year The median price of all single-family listings in the U.S. is down 1.3% month-over-month and the median price of closed listings has increased by 0.8% month-over-month As a nationwide real estate broker, HouseCanary’s broad multiple listing service (“MLS”) participation allows us to evaluate listing data and aggregate the number of new listings as well as the number of new listings going into contract for all single-family detached homes observed in the HouseCanary database. Using this data, HouseCanary continues to track listing volume, new listings, and median list price for 41 states and 50 individual Metropolitan Statistical Areas (“MSAs”). About HouseCanary: Founded in 2013, valuation-focused real estate brokerage HouseCanary empowers consumers, financial institutions, investors, lenders, and mortgage investors, with industry-leading valuations, forecasts, and transaction support. These clients trust HouseCanary to fuel acquisition, underwriting, portfolio management, and more. Learn more at www.housecanary.com.

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Hard Money Lender Accelerates Past Major Milestone in Lending

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Ignite Funding, a hard money lender, crossed the $1 billion dollar mark in funding residential and commercial real estate loans. It was just last year that Ignite Funding announced the milestone of $750 million funded, which puts this new achievement under their belt at record pace. “If it were not for the loyalty of our investors and the ingenuity of our borrowers, Ignite Funding would not have had the opportunity to sprint past this milestone,” states Carrie Cook, the President of Ignite Funding. “It’s truly a symbiotic relationship between the two. Our borrowers continue to bring great real estate projects to the table, and our investors readily bridge the gap left by traditional lending, and then both parties get to reap the returns.” While this achievement might cause another company to shift into “cruise control”, Ignite Funding does not intend to ease up on the gas pedal. “We always have a finger on the pulse of both the real estate investment and the lending industries so that Ignite Funding is right in the thick of the competition,” affirms Ms. Cook. “We are not afraid to tackle the growing pains that stem from this necessity and to adapt as needed.” About Ignite FundingIgnite Funding is the conduit in connecting bankable borrowers with sophisticated investors seeking double-digit returns via real estate investment opportunities collateralized by Trust Deeds. If you are a developer in search of lending that aligns with your goals, Click Here to review our lending criteria and schedule a consultation with the Director of Underwriting.

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HOMEOWNER EQUITY SURGES ACROSS U.S. DURING Q2

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Eight Times More Properties are Equity-Rich Across U.S. Than Seriously Underwater Portion of U.S. Homes Considered Equity-Rich Up to 34 Percent Seriously Underwater Properties Down to 4 percent ATTOM, curator of the nation’s premier property database, released its second-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 34.4 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loans secured by those properties was no more than 50 percent of their estimated market value. The portion of mortgaged homes that were equity-rich in the second quarter of 2021 – one in three – was up from 31.2 percent in the first quarter of 2021 and from 27.5 percent in the second quarter of 2020. The report also shows that just 4.1 percent of mortgaged homes, or one in 24, were considered seriously underwater in the second quarter of 2021, with a combined estimated balance of loans secured by the property at least 25 percent more than the property’s estimated market value. That was down from 5.2 percent of all U.S. properties with a mortgage in the prior quarter and 6.2 percent, or one 16 properties, a year ago. Across the country, 48 states saw equity-rich levels increase and seriously underwater percentages decrease from the first quarter to the second quarter 2021. Every state saw equity-rich levels rise and the seriously underwater portion drop compared to the second quarter of 2020. The improvements at both ends of the equity scale were the largest in two years and provided yet another sign that the United States housing market has resisted damage to the broader economy brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic that hit early last year. As the economy has gradually recovered in 2021, the housing market boom has continued for a 10th straight year, with gains across most measures. Equity increases in the second quarter came as the median home prices nationwide rose 11 percent, quarterly, and 22 percent year over year, during the months running from April through June of 2021. Median values rose at least 15 percent annually in a majority of metro-area markets around the country. Those ongoing price runups have boosted equity because the increases have widened the gap between what homeowners owe on their mortgages and the value of their properties. Prices have continued rising over the past year as rock-bottom interest rates and a desire to escape virus-prone areas have led to a bubble of home buyers largely untainted by the pandemic’s financial damage. Those buyers have been chasing a declining supply of properties for sale throughout the past year, resulting in elevated demand and soaring values. “The huge home-price jumps over the past year that helped millions of sellers earn big profits also kicked in big-time during the second quarter for other owners who saw their typical equity improve more than at any time in the last two years. Instead of the virus pandemic harming homeowners, it’s helped create conditions that have boosted the balance sheets of households all across the country,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM. “There are still a lot of questions hanging over the near future of the U.S. housing market, with some connected to how well the economy keeps recovering from the pandemic, and some not. We’ll keep watching those closely, though for now, there are few assets that keep on giving so much as homeownership.” Western and northeastern states show biggest improvement in equity-rich share of homes Nine of the 10 states with the biggest gains in the share of equity-rich homes from the first quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2021 were in the West and Northeast. States with the biggest increases included Arizona, where the portion of mortgaged homes considered equity-rich rose from 16.3 percent in the first quarter of 2021 to 39.7 percent in the second quarter, Massachusetts (up from 25.3 percent to 41.7 percent), New Hampshire (up from 20.4 percent to 36.1 percent), Rhode Island (up from 21 percent to 36.4 percent) and Delaware (up from 10.5 percent to 25.2 percent). States where the share of equity-rich homes decreased or went up the least from first to the second quarter of this year were Maryland (down from 23.5 percent to 23.2 percent), West Virginia (remained at 19.8 percent), Nebraska (up slightly from 27 percent to 27.1 percent), Alaska (up slightly from 22.5 percent to 22.9 percent) and Montana (up slightly from 40.4 percent to 40.8 percent). South and West show largest declines in underwater properties Seven of the 10 states with the biggest declines from the first quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2021 in the percentage of mortgaged homes considered seriously underwater were in the South and West. They included Tennessee (share of mortgaged homes seriously underwater down from 10.1 percent to 4.4 percent), Alabama (down from 12.1 percent to 6.6 percent), Delaware (down from 9.9 percent to 4.6 percent), Alaska (down from 7 percent to 3.1 percent) and Nebraska (down from 8.6 percent to 5 percent). States where the percentage of seriously underwater homes rose or declined the least from the first to the second quarter of 2021 were West Virginia (up from 10.3 percent to 11.7 percent), New Hampshire (up from 2.4 percent to 2.5 percent), Hawaii (down from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent), New York (down from 3.3 percent to 3.1 percent) and Utah (down from 2.2 percent to 1.9 percent). Largest shares of equity-rich homes still in West; smallest in Midwest and South The West again had far higher levels of equity-rich properties than other regions in the second quarter of 2021. Seven of the top eight states with the highest levels in the second quarter were in the West, led by Idaho (54.2 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich), California (53.8 percent), Vermont (53.3 percent), Washington (49.4 percent) and Utah (45.5 percent). Fourteen of the 15 states with the lowest percentages of equity-rich properties in the

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ASA Disappointed with Continued Exclusion of Appraisal Profession from Ongoing Federal Agency Efforts on Valuation Bias

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) held a virtual event looking at bias issues surrounding the home valuation process. Notably, this event was held without any participants from the appraisal profession at the table. This marks the second event of its kind that has excluded appraisers or their representatives from these important conversations. On June 15th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) held their own valuation bias event, absent any meaningful input from the appraisal profession. This mirrors the ongoing process, led by HUD, by which the PAVE Interagency Task Force has been working. Rather than providing public notice of planned meetings and seeking stakeholder input, the Task Force meets privately and without offering meaningful opportunity for public input. The exclusion of the appraisal profession from these events sends the message – intentional or not – that the input of appraisers is unwanted by those seeking to address issues relating to valuation bias. We believe that our track record on this issue demonstrates not only a willingness to engage on the question of valuation bias, but a commitment to doing the earnest work necessary to understand and overcome these challenges: ASA provided significant input to and ongoing support for HR 2553, the Real Estate Valuation Fairness and Improvement Act of 2021. This bill provides a comprehensive framework that addresses the housing finance system holistically and provides all stakeholders an opportunity to offer input; ASA has also worked on the state level to improve legislation designed to provide consumers meaningful disclosure around their rights if they feel they have been subject to discrimination, as well as ensuring that appraisers are provided the tools and resources necessary to understand the nuances of topics such as unconscious bias; ASA has testified before, and is on a Task Force with, the City of Philadelphia to investigate what role localities can play in understanding and addressing valuation bias issue; ASA, along with its partners in the appraisal profession, developed and presented a free session discussing unconscious bias and its possible effects in the appraisal process; and, Since 2019, ASA has engaged its own Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, looking at ways to improve representation across the whole of the appraisal profession. ASA has also served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Special Committee of the Appraisal Foundation, and supports the broad-based efforts undertaken by the Foundation in this area. As was reiterated in a recent letter to HUD, ASA (as well as the whole of the appraisal profession) continues to be willing to engage meaningfully on the topic of valuation bias. All we ask is for agencies such as HUD and CFPB to provide the opportunity. American Society of AppraisersThe American Society of Appraisers is a world renowned and respected international organization devoted to the appraisal profession. As the oldest and only major appraisal organization representing all appraisal specialists, ASA is dedicated to providing the highest possible standards in all areas of ethics, professionalism, education and designation criteria. For more information about the American Society of Appraisers, the ASA designation program for appraisers or the Society’s free “Find an Appraiser” Referral System, visit www.appraisers.org or call (800) 272-8258.

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Cooks With Class!

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REI INK at IMN East At the IMN Single Family Rental Forum (East), REI INK and RCN Capital hosted a Latin interactive cooking event at the Real Food Academy. The event was sponsored by Invigorate Finance. About 40 industry executives, clients and friends came together to hone their cooking skills and to have fun in a unique social setting. Round 2 will be in Scottsdale at the IMN SFR Conference (West) which will be held November 30 – December 2.  

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