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Deutsche Bank revealed Wednesday that it is currently in negotiations with the Department of Justice to resolve an investigation into the bank’s mortgage bond activities. The bank’s earnings materials don’t disclose what specific matter the DOJ is investigating, but the DOJ has been looking into Deutsche Bank’s mortgage-backed securities activities since at least 2013. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

By Susanne Dwyer

Pending home sales were mostly unmoved in June, but did creep slightly higher as supply and affordability constraints prevented a bigger boost in activity from mortgage rates that lingered near all-time lows through most of the month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Increases in the Northeast and Midwest were offset by declines in the South and West.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, inched 0.2 percent to 111.0 in June from 110.8 in May and is now 1.0 percent higher than June 2015 (109.9). With last month’s minor improvement, the index is now at its second highest reading over the past 12 months, but is noticeably down from this year’s peak level in April (115.0).

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says a solid bump in activity in the Northeast pulled up pending sales modestly in June. “With only the Northeast region having an adequate supply of homes for sale, the reoccurring dilemma of strained supply causing a run-up in home prices continues to play out in several markets, leading to the last two months reflecting a slight, early summer cool-down after a very active spring,” he said. “Unfortunately for prospective buyers trying to take advantage of exceptionally low mortgage rates, housing inventory at the end of last month was down almost 6 percent from a year ago, and home prices are showing little evidence of slowing to a healthier pace that more closely mirrors wage and income growth.”

Adds Yun, “Until inventory conditions markedly improve, far too many prospective buyers are likely to run into situations of either being priced out of the market or outbid on the very few properties available for sale.”

One noteworthy and positive development occurring in the housing market during the first half of the year, according to Yun, is that sales to investors have subsided from a high of 18 percent in February to a low of 11 percent in June, which is the smallest share since July 2009. Yun attributes this retreat to the diminished number of distressed properties coming onto the market at any given time and the ascent in home prices, which have now risen year-over-year for 52 consecutive months.

“Limited selection of homes at bargain prices is reducing the number of individual investors willing or able to buy,” adds Yun. “This will hopefully open the door for first-time buyers, who made some progress last month but are still buying homes at a subpar level even as rents increase at rates not seen since before the downturn.”

In spite of the slight slowdown in contract signings from April’s peak high, existing-home sales this year are still expected to be around 5.44 million, a 3.6 percent boost from 2015 and the highest annual pace since 2006 (6.48 million). After accelerating to 6.8 percent a year ago, national median existing-home price growth is forecast to slightly moderate to around 4 percent.

Says realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke: “Today’s pending home sales figures were the highest for June on a non-seasonally adjusted basis …read more

From:: Finance and Economy

By Susanne Dwyer

Pending home sales were mostly unmoved in June, but did creep slightly higher as supply and affordability constraints prevented a bigger boost in activity from mortgage rates that lingered near all-time lows through most of the month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Increases in the Northeast and Midwest were offset by declines in the South and West.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, inched 0.2 percent to 111.0 in June from 110.8 in May and is now 1.0 percent higher than June 2015 (109.9). With last month’s minor improvement, the index is now at its second highest reading over the past 12 months, but is noticeably down from this year’s peak level in April (115.0).

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says a solid bump in activity in the Northeast pulled up pending sales modestly in June. “With only the Northeast region having an adequate supply of homes for sale, the reoccurring dilemma of strained supply causing a run-up in home prices continues to play out in several markets, leading to the last two months reflecting a slight, early summer cool-down after a very active spring,” he said. “Unfortunately for prospective buyers trying to take advantage of exceptionally low mortgage rates, housing inventory at the end of last month was down almost 6 percent from a year ago, and home prices are showing little evidence of slowing to a healthier pace that more closely mirrors wage and income growth.”

Adds Yun, “Until inventory conditions markedly improve, far too many prospective buyers are likely to run into situations of either being priced out of the market or outbid on the very few properties available for sale.”

One noteworthy and positive development occurring in the housing market during the first half of the year, according to Yun, is that sales to investors have subsided from a high of 18 percent in February to a low of 11 percent in June, which is the smallest share since July 2009. Yun attributes this retreat to the diminished number of distressed properties coming onto the market at any given time and the ascent in home prices, which have now risen year-over-year for 52 consecutive months.

“Limited selection of homes at bargain prices is reducing the number of individual investors willing or able to buy,” adds Yun. “This will hopefully open the door for first-time buyers, who made some progress last month but are still buying homes at a subpar level even as rents increase at rates not seen since before the downturn.”

In spite of the slight slowdown in contract signings from April’s peak high, existing-home sales this year are still expected to be around 5.44 million, a 3.6 percent boost from 2015 and the highest annual pace since 2006 (6.48 million). After accelerating to 6.8 percent a year ago, national median existing-home price growth is forecast to slightly moderate to around 4 percent.

Says realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke: “Today’s pending home sales figures were the highest for June on a non-seasonally adjusted basis …read more

From:: Real Estate News

By Susanne Dwyer

Two more states, Mississippi and Maryland, as well as eight metro areas recently entered their historic benchmark levels of housing activity, according to the recently released Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index® (MiMi®). These additional metros are Louisville, Ken.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Allentown, Penn.; Omaha, Neb.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Detroit, Mich.; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Lakeland, Fla.

“Nationally, MiMi in May registered 85, a 7.3 percent year-over-year increase and the 49th consecutive month of year-over-year increases,” says Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer. “Many of the Western markets continue to see strong home sales. However, it’s the Southern states where MiMi continues to register some of the strongest gains buoyed by an improving employment picture. For example, the majority of Southern states showed stronger employment growth than the national average and all of the eight markets in Florida that MiMi tracks are now back to their historic benchmark levels of housing activity.”

The national MiMi value stands at 85, indicating a housing market that’s on the outer range of its historic benchmark level of housing activity, with a +1.05 percent improvement from April to May and a three-month improvement of +2.39 percent. On a year-over-year basis, the national MiMi value has improved +7.30 percent. Since its all-time low in October 2010, the national MiMi has rebounded 43 percent, but remains significantly off from its high of 121.7.

Thirty-eight of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia have MiMi values within range of their benchmark averages, with Hawaii (97.8), Oregon (97.1), Utah (96.9), Montana (96.6) and Colorado (96.4) ranking in the top five with their scores closest to their historical benchmark index level of 100.
Seventy-five of the 100 metro areas have MiMi values within range, with Honolulu, HI (99.8), Salt Lake City, Utah (100.2), Los Angeles, Calif. (99.6), Nashville, Tenn. (101.5), and Portland, Ore. (98.4) ranking in the top five with their scores closest to their historical benchmark index level of 100.

The most improving states month over month were North Carolina (+1.85 percent), Georgia (+1.82 percent), Florida (+1.69 percent), Mississippi (+1.65 percent) and Tennessee (+1.60 percent). On a year-over-year basis, the most improving states were Florida (+14.73 percent), Oregon (+14.64 percent), Colorado (+13.68 percent), Nevada (+12.36 percent) and New Jersey (+12.23 percent).

The most improving metro areas month over month were Chattanooga, Tenn. (+3.45 percent); Orlando, Fla. (+2.50 percent); Detroit, Mich. (+2.39 percent); and Charlotte, N.C.; Greensboro, S.C.; and Palm Bay, Fla. all improving (+2.24 percent). On a year-over-year basis, the most improving metro areas were Orlando, Fla. (+20.25 percent); Tampa, Fla. (+17.27 percent); Denver, Colo. (+16.20 percent); Cape Coral, Fla. (+15.51 percent); and Palm Bay, Fla. (+15.29).

In May, 45 of the 50 states and 88 of the top 100 metros were showing an improving three-month trend. The same time last year, 46 of the 50 states, and all of the top 100 metro areas were showing an improving three-month trend.

For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.

…read more

From:: Finance and Economy