Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Even before Brexit hit, mortgage rates were at historical lows, igniting in a surge in demand for home equity loans at the end of last year and into this year. After the financial crisis, home equity lines of credit fell to the wayside as lenders tried to avoid new defaults, but this is no longer an issue according this new report. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Shares of Humana Inc. were down the most in more than a three years in midday trade Thursday. The Louisville, Ky., health-care firm’s shares were down nearly 8% in most recent trade, putting it on track for its worst daily drop since Nov. 7, 2012, according to FactSet data. Humana is in the process of merging with rival Aetna Inc. , but there were no recent reports related to the planned combination. Humana’s tumbling stock was the worst performer in the S&P 500’s health-care sector , which was down 0.5%.
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
Just weeks after the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union, the housing market seems to be business as usual. The Brexit vote may not have a great of an impact as some believe. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Thursday that it is making progress on the implementation of the single security to be issued by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and, for the first time, provided a look at just when the common security will become a reality. So, when is the single security coming? Click through to find out. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Late payments on home-equity and mobile-home loans that are held by financial institutions turned higher during the first-three months of this year.
Closed-end consumer loans that are owned by U.S. banking institutions had a 30-day delinquency rate of 1.38 percent as of the first quarter of 2016.
The past-due rate, which reflects performance on eight installment loan categories, retreated 3 basis points compared to the final quarter of last year.
From:: Financing
Although Americans are saying now is a good time to buy and sell a home, even hitting new highs, wages and job growth are keeping them from being confident in the economy. Meaningful improvement in the housing market going forward will likely require consistent upward movement in consumers’ income growth perceptions, which have thus far been stagnant. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Over the last few months, a growing trend is emerging, as lenders of various sizes begin to offer certain borrowers the opportunity to get a mortgage loan with a down payment of 3%, or less. BancorpSouth is joining that trend by now offering zero-down mortgages to certain borrowers. Here are all the details. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Three U.S. banks were downgraded by Raymond James on Thursday ahead of their earnings reports. Bank of America Corp. was downgraded to market perform from outperform, due to the negative expected impact from an accounting change, competition from mobile bankers and stricter regulations. Wells Fargo & Co. was also downgraded to market perform from outperform, and its 2016 and 2017 earnings per share estimates lowered. Umpqua Holdings Corp.’s [s:umpq] rating was lowered to outperform from strong buy, and its non-GAAP EPS was reduced for the next two years, but Raymond James said it remains bullish on the stock long term given its $2 billion acquisition of Sterling in 2013. Shares of Bank of America rose 0.6% to $12.94 in late-morning trade, though they remain down more than 22% over the last 12 months. Those of Wells Fargo rose 0.2% in recent trade, though they’re down nearly 17% from a year ago. Umpqua’s stock increased 0.9% to $15.42, but remains down 13% on the year.
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
The S&P 500’s utility sector on Thursday was on track to log its worst daily drop in about seven weeks, according to FactSet data. Utilities were down 1.7%, which would be its largest daily drop since May 18. All of the S&P 500’s utility shares were in negative territory, led by a 2% drop in Ameren Corp. . The decline for the sector comes as stocks were attempting a second day of gains ahead of a key report on the labor market due Friday. Investors have been driven to companies that generate electricity over the past year and that appetite has intensified as investors hunt for yield in an environment in which many government bonds are bearing ultralow or negative yields. Buyers in utilities covet the sector for its relatively high dividends. On Wednesday, for example, the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to a record low of 1.367%. The U.K.’s vote on June 23 to leave the European Union, dubbed Brexit, boosted demand for yield and assets perceived as low risk. So far in 2016, utilities have risen 20%, making the sector the second-best performer among the S&P 500’s 10 sectors. Telecommunications, another dividend-paying group, is up 21% year to date. Telecom also was trading lower Thursday, off 1.2%. A recent frenzy for these sectors due to their attractive dividends has raised concerns about bubbles, or market distortions being fostered by historically low yields. Indications that the Federal Reserve may keep rates lower for longer has been supportive to so-defensive sectors like utilities and telecom, but a jolt higher in rates could hurt those who have recently invested in those stocks.
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
Spending by companies on technology is expected to be flat in 2016, with currency fluctuations and Brexit weighing on some of the growth, according to a new forecast from Gartner. The impact of the British exit from the European Union will “quickly affect” IT spending in the U.K. and Europe, the research company said. It believes the impacts on staffing and hiring will be the biggest near-term issue, with long-term uncertainty in work status making the U.K. less attractive to new foreign workers. Brexit could give U.K. IT departments less access to international talent, Gartner said. Offsetting some of that impact will be the continued growth of software, services and data centers. The largest increases in IT spending this year are expected to come from enterprise software, which is on pace to grow 5.8% year-over-year to $332 billion. Spending on services is projected to accelerate by 3.7% to $898 billion, while spending on data centers is forecast to grow 2% to $175 billion.
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