Dave Stevens on the election and the “extraordinary peril” of GSE reform

In this in-depth interview, David Stevens, former president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, joins HousingWire Junior Digital Producer Victoria Wickham to discuss his initial thoughts on a possible new administration. David and Victoria go deep on housing and some of the biggest changes coming to the housing market post election. Stevens also addresses two of the biggest issues the mortgage industry is focused on. The first is the future of the adverse market refinance fee. Second is what we might expect when it comes to GSE reform.

Here is a small preview of the interview with Stevens on the housing market post election, and be sure to watch the full interview above. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length.

Q: What are some of the biggest questions right now if we do have a new administration, or even in the case that President Trump is re-elected?

David Stevens: Well, they’re very different, right? For Trump, if he’s elected, is he going to keep the same folks in the key roles of his cabinet? And the two most important to our industry are the the HUD Secretary and the Treasury Secretary. Those are the two that have the greatest sort of influence on what we care about day to day. They are the ones who are going to help shepherd things like GSE reform. Will he select a Ginnie Mae president? We have yet to see an actual Ginnie Mae president get confirmed yet by the Senate.

Q: I there anything else that you’d like to add?

David Stevens: It’s been a heck of a year. The last thing I would just say to everybody who watches this is that you need to juxtapose the incredible year you’re having from a production standpoint if you’re in mortgage origination, to the extraordinary peril ahead of us here in terms of what happens with the GSEs. And, what happens with whichever administration comes in, in terms of key picks that they’re going to put into place in roles that are going to be absolutely critical to your business success over the long run. As I say, to everybody, look at the front windshield while you’re looking at the rearview mirror because all that production, in my view, is the rearview mirror. You need to be looking forward, down the road ahead, to see what changes are coming and how they may impact our industry. That’s going to be really important.