Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
HouseCanary, a provider of software and analytics for the real estate industry, announced it raised $33 million in a funding round. Even more interesting is the list of investors eyeing HouseCanary, which includes participants like NBA legend Kobe Bryant. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Mortgage servicing rights are on the market for more than $4 billion in residential loans that are backed by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
The offering includes MSRs on 23,856 Freddie Mac mortgages with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $4.046 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015.
On a weighted-average basis, the interest rate is 3.952 percent, the service fee is 0.2509 percent, and the FICO score is 752.
From:: Financing
CSX Corp. shares rallied in the extended session Wednesday after reports that departing Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. CEO Hunter Harrison will partner with activist investors to target CSX. CSX shares jumped 11% to $41 a share after hours, following a 3.2% decline in the regular session whenearnings missed Wall Street targets late Tuesday. Last year, CSX turned down Canadian Pacific’s $20 billion offer to acquire the railroad.
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From:: Stock Market News
A bigger share of home loan applications closed last month — especially compared to a year ago. Purchase and conventional loans had the best closing rate.
Conventional mortgages accounted for two-thirds of all residential loans that were closed in December 2016. A year earlier, the share was 65 percent.
Another fifth of last month’s production was loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The share was lower than 22 percent in December 2015.
From:: Financing
Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens received the most votes of their candidacies to date, suggesting that the taint of baseball’s steroid era is washing away and that they could eventually be voted in. Bagwell, who hit 448 home runs over a 15-year career, led the voting and was named on 86.2% of ballots. Raines, who stole 808 bases in his career, was elected in his 10th and final year of eligibility, receiving 86%. 13-time Gold Glove catcher Rodriguez got 76% in his first time on the ballot. Candidates needed 75% to be inducted. Relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman fell just short, with 74%, as did outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, who got 71.7%. Clemens and Bonds received 54.1% and 53.8%, respectively, the first time either got more than 50%. The three inductees will enter the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 30.
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
New york is ramping up it’s focus on the practices of reverse mortgage lenders as of late. After introducing plans to increase the regulations surrounding reverse mortgages in the state earlier this month, New York is now reportedly also investigating practices related to the servicing of reverse-mortgages at Financial Freedom, a part of OneWest Bank, and at Champion Mortgage, a unit of Nationstar Mortgage. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
With President-elect Trump’s inauguration mere hours away, it appears that the Trump administration will do more than just “examine” the FHA premium cut once Trump is sworn on. According to multiple sources, the FHA premium cut, which is currently scheduled to go into effect on January 27, will be delayed, if not done away with entirely, by the incoming Trump administration. Click the headline to read more. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
In addition to a quarterly and annual decline in home lending, Citigroup Inc. reduced its mortgage servicing portfolio and residential investments.
Before deducting income taxes, continuing operations at Citi brought in $5.1 billion during the three-month period that ended on Dec. 31, 2016.
The New York-based company delivered the details, along with other financial and operational data, in its fourth-quarter 2016 earnings report.
From:: Financing
Analysts at UBS late Wednesday downgraded energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. to sell, saying the company is likely to underperform relative to its global peers on production growth for “several years.” The analysts cut their price target on the shares to $77, from $86. Exxon also offers a lower dividend yield and trades at a premium to peers, the analysts said. In separate reports Wednesday, the UBS analysts also downgraded shares of EP Energy Corp. and upgraded the stocks of Devon Energy Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. to neutral, saying they favor exploration and production companies that are lower cost and offer better valuations. Energy stocks on the S&P 500 collectively fell 0.3% Wednesday, whereas the S&P 500 index gained 0.2% for the day. Shares of Exxon were down 0.3% in late trading, after ending the regular session down 1.2%.
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
Home builders have high hopes for the year ahead, anticipating a solid real estate market while being encouraged by the promises of a new administration.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) posted 67 this month, a decrease of only two points from December 2016, with the measure of “buyer traffic” at 51, the measure of “current sales conditions” at 72, and the measure of “sales expectations” at 76. An above-50 reading indicates more builders have a positive outlook than a negative one.
“Builders begin the year optimistic that a new Congress and administration will help create a better business climate for small businesses, particularly as it relates to streamlining and reforming the regulatory process,” said Granger MacDonald, NAHB chairman, in a statement on the Index.
The current cost of complying with regulations is constraining construction businesses to the detriment of new housing stock, which remained severely limited at the beginning of the year. The shortage is especially pronounced in the starter home segment, which is preventing first-time homebuyers from entering the market. Lessening the burden could open up more build opportunities, alleviating demand.
Still, approximately 40 percent of those recently surveyed by the Associated General Contractors of America organization are “worried” that regulations will bear down further in the future.
“While the new administration and its stated policy objectives offer many reasons for optimism, there is a significant risk to the industry if the new Congress and administration under-deliver,” Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the organization, said in a recent statement. “If plans to invest in infrastructure, reform healthcare laws and roll back regulations are delayed, many contractors will likely scale back their plans to expand headcounts.”
Nearly three-quarters of construction businesses expect to hire more contractors in 2017, according to the AGCA, with the majority planning to grow between 1 and 25 percent. A lack of younger contractors is a factor, with the NAHB estimating the median age in the sector at 42.
“Concerns going into the year include rising mortgage interest rates, as well as a lack of lots and access to labor,” said Robert Dietz, NAHB chief economist.
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From:: Real Estate News