Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Low housing inventory levels plagued the market last year, and it’s still not over. So will next year bring better news or more houses on the market? The National Association of Realtors gave its forecast for next year at the 2016 Realtors Conference & Expo. The forecast, while not likely to solve all the shortage problems, is still positive. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Despite a loss at its parent company, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. experienced greater profits, increased new business and growth in its book.
Parent Genworth Financial Inc. revealed in its third-quarter earnings report that it suffered a $125 million loss from continuing operations before income taxes.
Earnings swung from a $351 million profit during the previous three-month period. However, losses subsided from $351 million in the same quarter last year.
From:: Financing
Earlier this week, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that it plans to leave the federal funds rate unchanged, but the way the FOMC framed the announcement led many to believe that a rake hike is coming in December. And Friday’s jobs report did not contain any significant information that would warrant further delaying a rate hike – in fact, it all but guaranteed a December rate hike, according to Fannie Mae’s chief economist. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Gold futures settled with a modest gain on Friday to tally a weekly climb of more than 2% as uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election continued to boost the yellow metal’s appeal as a safe-haven investment. December gold rose $1.20, or less than 0.1%, for the session to settle at $1,304.50 an ounce. For the week, prices rose 2.2%–marking their fourth straight weekly gain.
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From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Whole Foods Market Inc. spiked higher in midday trade Friday, after Bloomberg reported that a large shareholder was looking to push for sweeping changes at the grocer, including a possible sale of the company. The stock was down 1.5% at about $28.02 around 12:23 p.m. ET, then shot up to a gain of as much as 5.1% at an intraday high of $29.91, before pulling back. It was recently up 1.2%%, on volume that was already more than double the full-day average. The Bloomberg report, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said one of the largest shareholders had met with potential activist investors to discuss the changes, that also included possible management changes, after losing patience with the company’s direction. Whole Foods has missed revenue expectations the last three quarters, and in seven of the last eight, while reporting same-store sales declines the past five quarters, according to FactSet. The stock has tumbled 14% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 4.5% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.7%.
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
Oil futures continued to decline on Friday after data from Baker Hughes revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 9 to 450 rigs this week. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, climbed by 12 to 569, Baker Hughes said. December crude was down 64 cents, or 1.4%, to $44.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, holding near the level it traded at before the rig data.
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From:: Stock Market News
An increase in refinance activity more than offset a week-over-week slump in purchase financing as prospective refinance borrowers rushed to lock in their rates.
A 1 percent escalation from previous week left the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily at 161 for the week ended Nov. 4.
Compared to the same week last year, the index — an indication of upcoming originations based on average rate locks by OpenClose users — soared 36 percent.
From:: Financing
Quelling rumors that Millennials don’t want to buy homes, a new report from Ellie Mae shows that they’re not only buying homes, they’re even to the point they want to refinance. However, this is still, overall, a small percentage of closed loans. Here’s a look at how Millennials are performing in other parts of the mortgage market. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Goldman Sachs will pay an undisclosed amount of money to settle another lawsuit stemming from its actions in the run-up to the financial crisis. ACA Financial Guaranty Corp brought the lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, accusing the company of lying about a pool of securities backed by subprime mortgages tied to the failed Abacus collateralized debt obligation. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Two former aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have been found guilty on charges related to lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September 2013, reports said. Christie himself was not charged with wrongdoing in the lane-closure scandal. Christie dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination in February, after finishing sixth in the New Hampshire primary.
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From:: Stock Market News