Barry Habib, an entrepreneur and frequent media contributor renowned for his mortgage and housing market predictions, has been named to the Fannie Mae board of directors. The appointment is effective July 21, according to a regulatory filing by the government-sponsored mortgage company.
Habib will be paid $160,000 annually as a board member, with the potential for additional compensation for committee appointments, according to Fannie Mae’s most recent compensation schedule filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Habib is the founder and CEO of MBS Highway, a software and market insights company for the residential mortgage and real estate industries. As a mortgage professional, he originated over $2 billion in his career, according to his website.
A New Jersey resident, Habib is also a well-known motivational speaker and is the author of the biographical 2020 book “Money in the Streets,” which is subtitled “A Playbook for Finding and Seizing the Opportunity All Around You.”
In March, Habib won his fourth Crystal Ball Award, which is awarded to the top economist, investment strategist or housing market analyst participating in Fannie Mae’s Home Price Expectations Survey.
Jim Nabors, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, said in a statement provided to Scotsman Guide that Habib has been “an invaluable voice in our industry for decades.” He said Habib’s appointment “comes at a crucial time for the mortgage industry.”
“His proven track record of identifying market trends and advocating for practical solutions will serve all stakeholders well as we work to expand homeownership opportunities and strengthen the secondary mortgage market,” Nabors stated.
Fed criticisms
In 2020, Habib was among the first industry pundits to warn that the Federal Reserve’s purchases of $183 billion of mortgage-backed securities — which was intended to drive down interest rates at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — would have the unintended consequence of creating market imbalance and forcing margin calls among mortgage bankers who had hedged against higher rates.
“This is a collapse of the system,” Habib said at the time, according to CNBC.
Earlier this month, Habib blasted Fed Chair Jerome Powell in a video posted to social media. He claimed the Fed previously stoked inflation by keeping interest rates too low for too long following the pandemic, but said it is now hurting consumers by leaving rates elevated. He believes the benchmark federal funds rate is currently about 1% higher than it should be.
“It really is too late to apologize, Jerome Powell, because what you’ve put us through in the mortgage industry, what you’ve homebuyers through, what you’ve put people through at the grocery store in pain [because of] exorbitant prices due to the inflation that he was complicit in is truly a shame,” Habib said.
