Losing jobless benefits hurts people, local economies
“That’s how much the economy will slow down as a result of 1.3 million people losing their federal jobless benefits on Dec. 28, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.”
Senate Confirms Yellen as Fed Chair
“The United States Senate voted Monday to confirm Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve following Ben Bernanke’s departure at the end of January. She will be the first woman to take the job in the Fed’s history.”
Are ‘Tortoise’ Markets Beating ‘Hares’ In Home Price Recovery?
“After observing a “first in, first out” recovery over the past year in which markets hardest hit during the housing downturn experienced the fastest-paced recovery, Clear Capital is now examining whether the housing market, in fact, follows the allegory of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The analytics firm observed price movement and offered its predictions for the new year in its Home Data Index released Monday.”
Regulator Reports Improving Loan Performance for 4th Straight Quarter
“The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks continued to improve in the third quarter of 2013, reports the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). It marked the fourth consecutive quarter the agency has recorded greater loan performance among regulated entities.”
United Wholesale Ranks No. 1 Among Wholesale Lenders in Q3
“United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), one of the nation’s fastest-growing wholesale lenders, has good reason to celebrate going into 2014: The company was ranked on MortgageStats.com as the No. 1 wholesale lender in the country for the third quarter of 2013.”
Homes’ Days-on-Market Remain Low in November
“Following a post-summer slowdown in the market, homebuyers across the nation put a little more force on the accelerator in November.”
Housing Recovery Remains on Firm Footing as Americans’ Housing Sentiment Bounces Back From an Autumn Dip
“WASHINGTON, DC – Year-over-year gains in Americans’ attitudes toward homeownership demonstrate that the housing recovery continues to move forward on firm footing despite a drop in housing sentiment during the fall, according to Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey results.”
Renewal of jobless benefits clears Senate hurdle
“(Reuters) – A White House-backed bill to renew jobless benefits for 1.3 million Americans narrowly cleared a U.S. Senate Republican procedural roadblock on Tuesday.”
MBA: Mortgage Credit Availability Essentially Flat in December
“Mortgage credit availability increased slightly in December, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning in its Mortgage Credit Availability Index.”
QM Fails to Deter Bank from Offering IO Loans
“Bank of the West will keep originating and holding in portfolio the interest-only loans that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new rules assign more liability to starting Friday.”
Home prices increase 11.8%
“Home prices, including distressed sales, escalated 11.8% in November 2013 when compared to a year earlier, representing the 21st consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally.”
Mortgage credit loosens a bit
“Accessing mortgage credit is getting a bit easier, a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says.”
Failure to launch generation: Why household formation for younger Americans continues to lag while home prices soar. 46 percent of younger Americans living with older family members.
“Many are giddy about the rise in home prices. Yet gains in home prices with no subsequent gain in income are merely a repeat of the previous bubble with a different tune. In the last bubble, the memory has seemed to faded, the impetus for funky loan products came because incomes were not rising and products that offered additional leverage were taken up to mask the growing decline of wages. In the last couple of years, the tinder that lit this latest run came from the Fed’s artificially low rate eco-system. The difference this time is that the gains in home prices largely went to big investors that now dominate the market. In the midst of all this trading, the homeownership rate has fallen. Household formation for younger Americans is dismal. The economy officially exited the recession back in the summer of 2009 (half a decade ago this summer). So why is housing formation so weak when it comes to younger households if the economy is supposedly booming?”
US dominates list for foreign real estate investors
“Global real estate investors are flocking to the U.S.”