Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Summer, while it’s not over, is shaping up to be less than hoped for, with agents surprised at how quickly demand faded through the season. Each month, Credit Suisse surveys agents about trends in buyer traffic levels for homebuilders in the top homebuilder markets. This is how the top three performed. Hint: They’re all very different. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Last month, HousingWire pondered if there was a light at the end of the tunnel for Ocwen Financial after the nonbank posted another loss in the second quarter, with company executives stating a belief that the nonbank can return to profitability as it puts “legacy” issues behind it. Now, Ocwen is putting one of those issues in the rear view mirror, as Standard & Poor’s is upgrading the nonbank’s servicer rankings. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Palladium futures took the spotlight among major metals Wednesday, rallying to their highest settlement in almost 14 months, buoyed by strong vehicle sales in China. The dollar-denominated metal, along with gold and silver, also got a boost from weakness in the U.S. dollar. September palladium rose $32.05, or 4.6%, to settle at $726. 40 an ounce, the highest futures finish since mid-June of last year, according to FactSet data. December gold settled at $1,351.90 an ounce, up $5.20, or 0.4%, while September silver added 32 cents, or 1.6%, to end at $20.17 an ounce.
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
Closing costs in the Northeast are significantly higher than closing costs in the middle of the U.S. Bankrate put together a list of states with the highest and lowest closing costs. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
A surge in applications for mortgage refinances — especially government-backed refinances — drove an impressive increase in overall new applications for residential loans.
Based on the Market Composite Index for the week ended Aug. 5, new mortgage applications climbed over 7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier.
Even without any seasonal adjustments, the index — a measure of retail residential loan application volume — rose 7 percent compared to the report from the prior week.
From:: Financing
The standard 6% commission for real estate agents is getting pushed to the test as the majority of Americans in today’s market end up paying less. Even paying only 5% commission can add up to a decent-sized savings. This is bad news for real estate agents right? Not necessarily. This is how the market is shifting. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Home prices increased yet again in the second quarter, outpacing wage growth, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors. This is causing affordability to decline despite historically low mortgage interest rates, according to the trade group’s head economist. Low rates are normally an incentive to get a mortgage, but not in this, current housing market. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
The Bank of England said Wednesday its offer to purchase U.K. government debt was met with strong demand, and that it reached its target of purchasing £1.17 billion ($1.53 billion) in bonds. The central bank purchased bonds with maturities of seven years to 15 years on Wednesday. The bank on Tuesday was only able to buy £1.12 billion in longer-dated bonds, or gilts, with analysts saying institutions such as pension funds and insurers were reluctant to sell such bonds because they need income to fulfill long-term liabilities. The yield on the 10-year gilt pared an earlier decline, and was down 1 basis point at 0.55%.
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 gained on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies climbed, but inventories of gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, declined in the week ended Aug. 5. Crude supplies rose 1.1 million barrels. That was contrary to the 1.75 million-barrel fall expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, but the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a larger climb of 2.1 million barrels, according to sources. Gasoline supplies fell 2.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined by 2 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. September crude tacked on 51 cents, or 1.2%, from Tuesday’s settlement to trade at $43.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $42.98 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
Big banks created their own elite group to fight cyber security issues. The problem continues to grow among financial industries, and these banks teamed up to combat it. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire