Wed, Dec 18 2013, 11:56 AM
US household net worth was
$77 trillion as of the end of Q3, up $1.9T Q/Q. In the third quarter, the
value of corporate equities and mutual funds o...
Wed, Dec 18 2013, 11:19 AM
Housing starts and housing completions for
September, October and November were released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the
Department of Housing and...
Mon, Dec 16 2013, 10:18 AM
The value of
US pensions has soared this year. Per JPMorgan Chase, pensions now cover 96% of future obligations! Pension values
have seen the bi...
Fri, Dec 13 2013, 5:12 PM
A new study from the Harvard Joint
Center on Housing Studies in conjunction with the McArthur Foundation looks at
the growing importance of rental h...
Tue, Dec 3 2013, 10:48 AM
A ccording to the FDIC, there are around 96,341 bank branches
in the country vs. 97,340 a year ago (999 were closed). But SNL reports
bank and...
Mon, Dec 2 2013, 12:00 PM
The Census Bureau released a combined
report on the Value of Construction Put in Place for both September and October
on Monday. A full September r...
Mon, Dec 2 2013, 9:25 AM
Planning
on giving out a few things for the holidays to special clients? Think
twice about it! Ken Perry writes, “Hey Rob, as we get closer to the...
Wed, Nov 27 2013, 10:23 AM
A new housing brief from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that median home values in many small counties across the nation held steady after the most re...
Tue, Nov 26 2013, 10:07 AM
The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and
Urban Development are still playing catch-up from the government shutdown that
squashed data r...
Tue, Nov 26 2013, 9:55 AM
In August
2015 there will be a change to the mandatory waiting period (“effective
August 2015 a home BUYER will now have a MANDATORY 3 day waiti...
Tue, Nov 26 2013, 5:17 AM
Here on November 26th, it might seem like the government shutdown
that ended in mid-October is far enough in the rearview that we wouldn't
still b...
Mon, Nov 25 2013, 10:12 AM
The
last survey I took was regarding how happy I was with my long-distance
carrier, and ended with me hanging up right in the middle of the
age-...
Thu, Nov 21 2013, 2:58 PM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic
Research Group calls the temporary government shutdown and debt ceiling
negotiations in October a blow to consu...
Wed, Nov 20 2013, 9:51 AM
The coming year should bring an
emergence of the first purchase-dominated market the U.S. has seen since 2000
Freddie Mac has predicted. The
s...
Wed, Nov 20 2013, 9:18 AM
Flagstar Bank has spread the word that Flagstar is adding an option for “ VA IRRRL Other Servicer ”
to use AVM rather than an appraisal up to 100% L...
Tue, Nov 12 2013, 10:21 AM
Generally speaking, home values are going up, and we receive plenty
of statistics every month slicing and dicing sales and values. The
latest is f...
Mon, Oct 28 2013, 4:00 PM
Mortgage rates stayed in line with
recent 4-month lows today. In some cases, there was a slight movement
in the closing costs associated with...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 2:07 PM
The 'Value of Construction Put in
Place' survey for August was published on Tuesday, three weeks after its
scheduled release. The Census Bureau
re...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 2:13 PM
With the Census Bureau, like the rest of
the government, shut down and unable to release its usual economic data the
National Association of Home Bu...
Fri, Oct 4 2013, 9:53 AM
The federal payroll report, eagerly
awaited on the first Friday of each month, will not be available today or for
the foreseeable future. The Bureau...
Thu, Oct 3 2013, 12:20 PM
While he anticipates that the current
government shutdown will be short-lived, Moody Analytics Chief Economist Mark
Zandi said yesterday that "If ...
Tue, Sep 24 2013, 10:49 AM
Given the change in the MBA's logo, David Frase writes, "I love the
new MBa logo! It emphasizes the loss of 'capital' experienced by our
industry...
Wed, Sep 18 2013, 10:57 AM
Building permits for the construction of
new privately owned residential units fell 3.8 percent in August to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9...
Wed, Sep 18 2013, 10:07 AM
The industry is moving toward more acceptance of non-QM loans .
The CFPB will be the first to admit that just because a loan is not QM
doesn't me...
Tue, Sep 17 2013, 12:54 PM
Fannie Mae's senior economists said
today that anticipated declines in refinance
originations suggest that mortgage industry employment, which has...
Tue, Sep 17 2013, 2:44 PM
Home remodeling appears to be growing even more
steadily that other sectors of the residential construction industry. Building permits for improveme...
Mon, Sep 16 2013, 10:24 AM
On Friday the 13th the CFPB released the final amendments
to the Loan Officer Compensation, Servicing, QM and HOEPA Rules. The
official release ...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 10:08 AM
We're all watching the residential lending industry change, although
in Saturday's commentary I noted several bank mergers from recent weeks.
Whet...
Wed, Sep 4 2013, 10:15 AM
I know it is already Wednesday, but here is something labeled " The Monday Map "
which shows some interesting trends in personal incomes among the
...
Wed, Sep 4 2013, 3:30 PM
Builders are encountering a shortage of
buildable lots the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said today; a lack
of lots that is particu...
Tue, Sep 3 2013, 9:49 AM
August was not a pleasant month for many lenders, and September may
not be much better. Sure, volumes are down, and staffing is down in most
shops...
Tue, Sep 3 2013, 4:36 PM
Construction contributed nearly a
trillion dollars to the U.S. economy on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis
in July, an increase of 0.6 percent...
Tue, Aug 27 2013, 12:52 PM
The growth in home prices nationally
accelerated in the second quarter. The
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which covers all nine U.S. census di...
Wed, Aug 21 2013, 1:47 PM
Fannie Mae economists Doug Duncan, Orawin T. Velz, and Brian Hughes-Cromwick said today that despite two downside risk factors
they see the economy ...
Mon, Aug 19 2013, 10:07 AM
I am heading off to Indiana this morning, but still had time to catch
this OCC release about a company to cheat consumers who are trying to
rebuil...
Fri, Aug 16 2013, 10:28 AM
The pace of residential construction
was notably mixed across all three Census Bureau measures in
July, with the
issuance of permits, housing st...
Fri, Aug 16 2013, 10:14 AM
Hundreds of lenders across the nation are targeting purchase business. When was the last time refis accounted for less than 50% of MBA's weekly appl...
Fri, Aug 16 2013, 5:42 PM
Mortgage rates rose sharply again today , with best-execution up to 4.75 in
most cases, after another round of economic data failed to conv...
Thu, Aug 15 2013, 1:28 PM
In its August Economic and Housing
Market Outlook Freddie Mac celebrates, sort of, a birthday. It was
four years, at the end of June, since the rec...
Mon, Aug 12 2013, 9:30 AM
Periodically I am asked, "Do you know how many LOs there are in the nation? "
And folks periodically write and ask, "How many lenders are there in ...
Mon, Jul 29 2013, 9:38 AM
I am visiting Montana, and Butte just wrapped up "Evil Knievel Days"
over the weekend. (I had an acquaintance who was married to his sister -
thei...
Tue, Jul 23 2013, 10:10 AM
I want one of those jobs where people ask, "Do you actually get paid
for doing this?" Most folks involved in lending or real estate rarely
hear th...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 1:35 PM
Fannie Mae said today in its July Economic and Strategic Report
that the view expressed in these reports since the first of this year
has not ch...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 10:31 AM
Building permits and housing starts
both declined in June according to data released this morning by the
U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Ho...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 9:40 AM
Huh? I head to Southern California today, but the big news comes from Illinois. Cole Taylor Mortgage looking for a buyer ? It probably won't be the...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 4:54 PM
Mortgage rates improved moderately today,
making it back to levels not seen since July 3rd. That makes today
something of a symbolic victory ...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 11:29 AM
Everyone has complaints about something. Mortgage lenders are the target of plenty of complaints. As one reader noted, "This is a classic self-fulfill...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 1:38 PM
Freddie Mac calls "Taper Talk" is
the main topic of conversation in the financial world, that is,
speculation about the timing and speed that the Fe...
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 10:05 AM
Sure lots of depository and non-depository lenders made big bucks last year. But what about this year? Probably not .
Last
week I was remiss in ...
Mon, Jul 8 2013, 1:16 PM
The number of metropolitan areas listed
as "improving" by the National Association of Home Builders
(NAHB) and First American Title fell slightly i...
