Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Mortgage Specialists International announced it will expand its suite of services with the acquisition of Williams, Williams & McKissick. The expansion includes auction sales for all types of real estate including commercial, residential and luxury. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
A neurosurgeon with no experience in housing has been confirmed as the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Dr. Benjamin Carson as HUD secretary. The confirmation was made by a roll call vote of 58 to 41.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs approved Carson for the nation’s top housing agency role back on Jan. 24.
From:: Financing
Despite a reduction in purchase financing, overall quarterly home lending moved higher on a year-over-year basis.
Residential loan originations during the final-three months of last year amounted to 1.7 million loans for $461 billion.
Total production included loans used to finance a home purchase, refinance transactions and home-equity lines of credit.
From:: Financing
Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser threw some cold water on Snap Inc.’s hot IPO, initiating coverage of the social media darling with a sell rating. His stock price target of $10 is 41% below the initial-public-offering price of $17, and 60% below current levels. Snap’s stock opened at $24 on the NYSE, and was recently up 46% at $24.75. “Snap is a promising early stage company with significant opportunity ahead of itself,” Wieser wrote in a note to client. “Unfortunately, it is significantly overvalued given the likely scale of its long-term opportunity and the risks associated with executing against that opportunity.” He said Snap is an “upstart” facing aggressive competition from much larger companies, with a core user base that is not growing by much. Wieser also expressed concerns over an inexperienced management team, high expenses and cash costs, potential dilution from “aggressive share issuances to employees” and the lack of voting rights for shareholders. While Snap’s stock soared, the broader market fell, with the S&P 500 down 0.5%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Snap Interactive Inc. , which trades over the counter on the OTCQB exchange, soared 13% in active morning trade Thursday. Volume of 22,500 shares was nearly six times the full-day average. The company, which provides social networking and dating applications, has not released any news since Feb. 14, when it said Chief Executive Alex Harrington was named to the Global Dating Insights 2017 Power Book list of the most influential people in the online dating industry. The surge in the stock comes as investors wait for shares of Snapchat parent Snap Inc. to debut on the NYSE. Snap’s initial public offering priced at $17 late Wednesday, and is currently indicated to open between $23.50 to $24.50.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell said the case for March interest-rate hike “has come together,” saying the balance of risks has not only shifted from the downside but is arguably to the upside. Powell, in an interview with CNBC, said the momentum in the U.S. economy is solid. He also didn’t put much attention on the recent cuts to gross domestic product estimates by forecasters, saying GDP isn’t measured well in real time. Powell, who gets a vote at every Federal Open Market Committee meeting, joins several officials in talking about the possibility of a rate hike later this month.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
Mortgage servicing rights on nearly $1 billion in government-sponsored enterprise loans with a California concentration are being auctioned off.
Bids are now being accepted for MSRs on 4,598 residential loans that had an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $920 million as of Feb. 28.
FNMA A/A loans make up $676 million of the portfolio, FNMA MBS account for $5 million, and another $239 million are FHLMC ARC loans.
From:: Financing
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday showed that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 7 billion cubic feet for the week ended Feb. 24. Analysts expected inventories to fall by just 2 billion cubic feet, on average, for the week, following milder winter weather that dulled demand for the fuel, according to S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 2.363 trillion cubic feet, down 187 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 295 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. April natural gas fell 3 cents, or 1.1%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $2.769 per million British thermal units. It traded at $2.786 before the data.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
Ben Carson is now officially confirmed as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, following the Senate vote Thursday morning. The approval locks in one of the few remaining cabinet members left to be approved. Click the headline to read more. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Taubman Centers Inc. said Thursday it was raising its quarterly dividend by 5% to 62.5 cents a share from 59.5 cents a share. The mall real estate investment trust said the new dividend will be paid March 31 to shareholders of record on March 15. Based on current share prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 3.62%, compared with the average dividend yield of the Real Estate Select Sector ETF’s components of 4.06%, and the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 1.99%, according to FactSet. Taubman’s stock, which slipped 0.2% in morning trade, has lost 4.3% over the past three months, while the real estate ETF has gained 7% and the S&P 500 has climbed 9.1%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News