Bloomberg provides the latest forecast of how the government shutdown may impact the housing market.
It’s not a pretty one:
A U.S. government shutdown will immediately slow approval of thousands of mortgages. If it lasts more than a week, it threatens housing and the broader economic recovery.
Not only will the shutdown hamper the Federal Housing Administration’s ability to endorse loans and prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from processing them altogether, it will likely trip up many mortgage applications that fall outside their purview as well.
That’s because lenders won’t be able to verify Social Security numbers and tax returns, now a common underwriting practice.