DSNews BY: Colin Robins May 9, 2014 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its April 2014 Housing Scorecard, noting that home prices remained stable, foreclosure completions continued to their lowest levels since mid-2007, existing home sales stabilized, new home sales slowed, and the administration’s foreclosure mitigation efforts continued to provide […]
Credit Standards Stay Put for Prime Mortgage Products
DSNews BY: Tory Barringer May 6, 2014 A newly released survey of senior loan officers around the country finds credit standards remained largely the same on basic prime mortgage products over the latest quarter, while demand came in weaker. According to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, released Monday, 14.3 percent […]
Economic Index Finds Markets Continue to Improve
DSNews BY: Colin Robins May 6, 2014 In a nationwide analysis of 351 metros, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found 300 have seen year-over-year economic gains. According to the group’s Leading Markets Index (LMI), 59 metros have fully returned or even exceeded their last normal levels of […]
Zillow: Buying a Home Beats Renting After 2 Years
DSNews BY: Colin Robins May 1, 2014 Zillow’s break-even horizon analysis came to an interesting conclusion: in half of U.S. metros, buying a home is a better financial decision than renting for buyers intending to stay in their home at least two years. The company’s analysis includes all costs associated with buying versus renting, including […]
Former Bank of America CFO Barred for 18 Months
DSNews BY: Colin Robins May 5, 2014 The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that a $7.5 million settlement has been reached with Bank of America’s former CFO, Joe Price, regarding the bank’s actions as it sought to merge with Merrill Lynch & Co. in […]
Mortgage Performance Improves in Q4 2013
DSNews – BY: Colin Robins, March 27, 2014 The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a new report Thursday, highlighting the performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal banks continued to improve in the fourth quarter of 2013. The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report for the Fourth Quarter of 2013 found 91.8 percent […]
4 million homeowners climb out of negative equity
LA Times, BY KENNETH R. HARNEY, March 6, 2014 WASHINGTON — The economy may be growing at a frustratingly slow pace, but one piece of it is booming: American homeowners’ equity holdings — the market value of their houses minus their mortgage debts — soared by nearly $2.1 trillion last year to $10 trillion. Big numbers, […]
Delinquency Rates Drop to Lowest Since 2008
DSNews – By: Colin Robins, February 21, 2014 The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its National Delinquency Survey Thursday, reporting the seasonally adjusted rate for delinquent mortgages is 6.39 percent, the lowest level since 2008. The figure represents mortgage loans for 1 to 4 unit residential properties, and takes into account all loans outstanding at the […]
Credit Default Rates Decrease in January
DSNews BY: Colin Robins February 19, 2014 In a report released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian, data from the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices revealed a decline in default rates during the month of January. The Indices are a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults. […]
New Housing Data Reveals Positive 2013 for Florida
BY: Colin Robins, February 11, 2014 New housing data released by Florida Realtors shows a positive 2013 for closed and pending sales. The closed sales for existing single-family homes totaled 227,411, up 11.8 percent from 2012. Pending sales figures were also positive, up 17.6 percent compared to 2012. Data was compiled from the Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis […]