Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Despite declines in another adjustable-rate mortgage index, the Monthly Treasury Average rose to a level not seen in more than six years.
An analysis of Federal Reserve Board data by Mortgage Daily determined the MTA to be 2 basis points less during June than a month earlier.
Historical data from the Fed indicate that the index has not been as high as it was as of last month since October 2009 — a record-low at the time.
From:: Financing
Fifth Third Mortgage is the latest to enter the slowly growing arena of mortgage lenders offering low down mortgages. However, the lender took it a step further by announcing a zero down payment mortgage program for select borrowers. Here’s the fine print for the program. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Fifth Third Mortgage is the latest to enter the slowly growing arena of mortgage lenders offering low down mortgages. However, the lender took it a step further by announcing a zero down payment mortgage program for select borrowers. Here’s the fine print for the program. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Medivation Inc. said Tuesday that an acquisition bid of $58 a share from Sanofi SA had been rejected by its board of directors, and that the San Francisco biotech has agreed to explore a potential sale to multiple parties. Sanofi is one of an unstated number of companies that has signed a confidentiality agreement with Medivation in order to review non-public information on the company, which develops drugs mostly for cancers that are hard to treat. Sanofi sought to replace the board of Medivation after it rejected previous bids from the French pharmaceutical giant. Pfizer Inc. has also been reportedly interested in acquiring the company, but the news release did not list other potential suitors beyond Sanofi. “Our board remains committed to objectively considering all avenues that may enhance our ability to deliver superior value,” Medivation board chairman Kim Blickenstaff said in an announcement Monday. Medivation shares gained about 1.5% in late trading Monday, after closing with a 2.7% gain at $61.76; the company’s stock is up nearly 28% on the year.
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From:: Stock Market News
Stocks sagged Tuesday as Brexit-related uncertainties spooked investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 108 points, or 0.6%, at 17,840. Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase finished 2.8% lower, leading the blue-chip benchmark in its descent, as bank stocks came under trading pressure. The S&P 500 gave up 14 points, or 0.7%, to 2,088 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 39 points, or 0.8%, at 4,822. A nearly 5% decline in crude-oil prices to below $47 a barrel, which contributed to the market’s decline, putting pressure on energy-related stocks. Trading action was marked by records lows in benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields , which fell to around 1.36% and a fresh 31-year record low for the British pound against the U.S. dollar in the wake of its decision to exit the European Union, dubbed Brexit. U.S. markets were closed Monday in observance of Independence Day.
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From:: Stock Market News
Bret Taylor, former chief technology officer at Facebook Inc. , has joined Twitter Inc.’s board of directors, the company said Tuesday. Taylor, who is currently the chief executive of Quip, a productivity company, also previously worked at Alphabet Inc. , where he was the co-creator of Google Maps. “Bret brings to our board a great mind for consumer products and technologies that will be invaluable to the company as we execute our plans for 2016 and beyond,” Omid Kordestani, Twitter’s executive chairman, said in a release.
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From:: Stock Market News
As part of its ongoing efforts to sell off some of the deeply delinquent mortgages held in its portfolio, Freddie Mac announced recently that it plans to sell nearly $44 million in non-performing loans to a non-profit buyer. Here are all the details. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
A new type of mortgage security that is targeted at aging Baby Boomers seeking to enhance their retirement income is being brought to market.
The instrument, known as a prime-rated individual mortgage-backed obligation — or PRIMO — promises low risk at yields of 6 percent or more.
Each security is backed by a high-quality residential loan with a prime rating and has a high level of transparency and unprecedented customization.
From:: Financing
NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s quarterly tax data shows that $524 billion in taxes were paid by property owners over the four quarters ending in Q1 2016. This represents a $22 billion—or 4.4 percent—increase over the previous trailing four quarters, the largest percentage increase since 2009.
Property taxes accounted for 39.3 percent of state and local tax receipts, the largest share among major sources over the past four quarters, followed by individual income taxes (28.7 percent), sales taxes (27.7 percent), and corporate taxes (4.3 percent).
The first quarter of 2016 marked the first time since 2010 that four-quarter property tax revenues grew faster than sales tax receipts. Though the growth of the more-volatile income and sales tax receipts has moderated in recent quarters, the growth rate of 12-month property tax collections remains robust. This rate has increased every quarter but one since Q3 2014, and the ratio of property tax revenue to total tax revenue from the four aforementioned sources remains more than two percentage points above its pre-housing boom average of 37 percent.
The share of property tax receipts among the four major tax revenue sources naturally changes with fluctuations in non-property tax collections. Non-property tax receipts including individual income, corporate income, and sales tax revenues, by nature, are much more sensitive to fluctuations in the business cycle and the accompanying changes in consumer spending (affecting sales tax revenues) and job availability (affecting aggregate income). In contrast, property tax collections have proven relatively stable, reflecting the long-run stability of tangible property values as well as the smoothing effects of lagging assessments and annual adjustments.
This post was originally published on NAHB’s blog, Eye on Housing.
From:: Finance and Economy
Oil futures dropped on Tuesday as worries about a potential slowdown in energy demand linked to the U.K.’s move to exit the European Union and hints of a potential rise in U.S. production pulled prices to their lowest level in about a week. August WTI crude fell $2.39, or 4.9%, to settle at $46.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest settlement since June 27.
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From:: Stock Market News