Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Home prices in some metropolitan areas grew at almost triple the rate of the national average. Zillow laid out a list of the top five which, surprisingly, San Francisco was not on. While some areas are heating up, it seems California’s hot markets could be cooling down. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Where are we in the credit cycle? How will credit markets react to the upcoming election? Has the pendulum swung too far when it comes to mortgage underwriting? These were some of the questions raised and answered at ABS East. Frank Nothaft, chief economist with CoreLogic, shares his insights on the state of the mortgage market as witnessed at ABS East. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Although the number of fraudulent mortgage applications dipped, the share and risk worsened. But a big improvement was made on valuation fraud risk.
An estimated 12,718 applications for residential loans contained some sort of fraud during the three months that concluded on June 30 of this year.
There has been little change in the volume of fraudulent mortgage applications submitted compared to the second-quarter 2015, when the total was 12,814.
From:: Financing
Mortgage delinquency declined last month, the foreclosure rate fell, and the number of foreclosures that were initiated moved lower.
As of the end of August, there were 2,678,000 residential loans that were either 30 days past due or in the foreclosure pre-sale inventory.
The number of non-current mortgages retreated by 158,000 compared to one month earlier and by 483,000 versus one year earlier.
From:: Financing
Despite anticipation of an uptick in existing home sales in August, they actually decreased yet again. Declining inventory and high home costs continue to prevent home sales from reaching pre-crisis levels. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Natural-gas futures fell Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 52 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 16. That compared with the average rise of 51 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.551 trillion cubic feet, up 140 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 268 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. October natural gas was down 2.3 cents, or 0.8%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $3.034 per million British thermal units. It traded flat at $3.057 before the data.
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From:: Stock Market News
Spending on things like candy, decorations and costumes for Halloween is expected to reach $8.4 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation, the highest in the organization’s survey history. Americans are expected to spend an average of $82.93, up from $74.34 last year. Shoppers plan to spend $3.1 billion on costumes, $2.5 billion on candy, $2.4 billion on decorations, and $390 million on greeting cards, the survey found. Nearly half of consumers (47%) said they’ll go to discount stores for Halloween goods, while 36% said they’d go to a Halloween specialty store, 26% will go to supermarkets, 23% will shop in department stores, and 22% said they’ll shop online. The survey, conducted by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics, polled 6,791 shoppers between Sept. 6 and Sept. 13.
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From:: Stock Market News
Moody Investors Service on Thursday cut Viacom Inc.’s long-term debt rating to Baa3, which is one notch from junk, from Baa2. The credit downgrade comes a day after the beleaguered company said it would cut its quarterly dividend in half to improve financial flexibility, and issued a profit warning for the fiscal fourth quarter that, at the time, was about 23.1% below estimates. Viacom’s revised forecast is for earnings in the 65 cents to 70 cents range and the revised FactSet consensus is 77 cents. “Today’s rating action reflects the continued weaker than anticipated rebound in the company’s operating performance and cash flow contributions, and our expectation for higher near-term adjusted leverage which is well beyond levels commensurate with a Baa2 senior unsecured rating,” Moody’s analysts wrote in a release.
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From:: Stock Market News
Last week’s dramatic increase in mortgage rates did not carry over into this week. Average rates actually slipped down this week in anticipation of the Fed’s meeting results. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, as investors continued to digest recent comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who didn’t raise interest rates at the Fed’s September meeting but expressed confidence in the state of the economy. Markets were also lifted by a rise in the price of crude oil, which supported energy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average [S: DJIA] rose 0.4%, or 70.1 points, to 18,360.61, with Exxon Mobil [S: XOM] its top supporter, up 1.5%. The S&P 500 [S: SPX] rose 0.4%, or 9.15 points, to 2,172.40, with energy its top-performing sector of the day. The Nasdaq Composite Index [S: COMP] rose 0.5%, or 28.1 points, to 5,323.34.
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From:: Stock Market News