Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
The evolution from a refinance to a purchase market has raised the risk of defects. Government-insured mortgages are more at risk than conventional loans.
In the first quarter of this year, mortgage originations had a critical defect rate of 1.61 percent. The rate reflects loans with at least one defect.
Defects are defined as a defect that would result in a residential loan being ineligible for sale to Fannie Mae.
From:: Financing
Actua Corp. shares jumped in the extended session Monday after the cloud-based software and services company said it was selling three of its majority-owned businesses and distributing proceeds to shareholders. Actua shares soared 28% to $15.65 after hours, following a brief halt. The company said it plans to sell interest in its VelocityEHS, Bolt Solutions and FolioDynamix businesses for a total of $549 million cash. Actua said it is selling its interest in the software company VelocityEHS and online insurance service platform Bolt Solutions to CVC Growth Fund, and web-based wealth management technology platform FolioDynamix to Envestnet Inc. . Envestnet shares were unchanged at $49.90 after hours. Actua said it expects proceeds of $14.35 to $15.18 a share from the sales with distribution to shareholders in the first quarter of 2018.
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From:: Stock Market News
Synnex Corp. shares rallied in the extended session Monday after the business process services company’s earnings and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Synnex shares surged 9% to $127 after hours. The company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $75.2 million, or $1.87 a share, compared to $58.7 million, or $1.47 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $2.16 a share. Revenue rose to $4.28 billion from $3.67 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $1.97 a share on revenue of $4 billion. For the fiscal fourth quarter, Synnex estimates adjusted earnings of $2.63 to $2.73 a share on revenue of $4.75 billion to $4.95 billion. Analysts had forecast earnings of $2.52 a share on revenue of $4.47 billion.
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From:: Stock Market News
Shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc. rose more than 14% late Monday after the parent company of Ann Taylor, Dressbarn and other apparel retailers swung to a surprise adjusted profit in the fiscal fourth quarter and reported higher sales and half the decline in comparable-store sales that Wall Street expected. Ascena said it lost $16 million, or 8 cents a share, in the quarter, versus a net income of $14 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Ascena earned 5 cents a share, compared with 8 cents a share a year ago. Revenue reached $1.66 billion in the quarter, compared with $1.81 billion in the year-ago period. The decrease in sales reflected a 4% comparable sales decline, caused primarily by mid single-digit declines in average selling price and store traffic, the company said in statement. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected an adjusted loss of 3 cents a share on sales of $1.57 billion, and a decline of more than 8% for comparable-store sales. Shares ended the regular trading session up 3.3%.
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From:: Stock Market News
Red Hat Inc. shares rose in the extended session Monday after the open-source software company topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Red Hat shares advanced 4.5% to $110.50 after hours. The company reported second-quarter net income of $96.9 million, or 53 cents a share, compared to $58.8 million, or 32 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 77 cents a share. Revenue rose to $723.4 million from $599.8 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 67 cents a share on revenue of $699.6 million. For the third quarter, Red Hat estimates earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of $730 million to $737 million. Analysts had estimated earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of $710.5 million.
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
Homebuyers and sellers are confident in the housing market, but there are few sales to show for it, according to recently released findings from a survey by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
NAR’s quarterly Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) report reveals homebuyers and sellers are stuck in neutral, despite a record 80 percent of homeowners surveyed for the report believing now is a good time to sell and 62 percent of renters believing now is a good time to buy. Low inventory is behind the stall, says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
“The housing market has been in a funk since early spring because of the ongoing scarcity of new and existing homes for sale,” Yun says. “The pace of new-home construction has not meaningfully broken out this year, and not enough homeowners at this point have followed through with their belief that now is a good time to sell. As a result, home shoppers have seen limited options, stiff competition and weakening affordability conditions. Buyer demand is robust this fall, but the disappointing reality is that sales will continue to undershoot their full potential until supply levels significantly improve.”
Buying a home is already a pipe dream for many renters—and pushed even further out of reach by rising rents, the report shows. Fifty-one percent of renters expect their rent to increase in the next year, but 42 percent would renew their lease, rather than buy a home, if their rent did go up. (Only 15 percent would buy a home.)
“Even though the typical down payment of a first-time buyer has been 6 percent for three straight years, two-thirds of respondents indicated that saving for one is difficult right now,” says Yun. “Rents and home prices have outpaced incomes in the past few years, and this is undoubtedly impacting their ability to put aside savings for a home purchase, even if they increasingly believe it’s a good time to buy. Heading into next year, higher home prices and limited inventory in the affordable price range will likely continue to hold back a share of renters who would prefer to be homeowners.”
More of those surveyed (57 percent) believe the economy is improving, however—optimism that could potentially translate into more earnings, and, by extension, more housing opportunities. The survey’s Personal Financial Outlook Index, which gauges respondents’ sentiment on their financial situation over the next six months, leapt up to 62.0 in September.
“Jobs are plentiful, wage growth is finally showing signs of life, home values are up considerably in the past five years and the stock market is at record highs,” Yun says. “The economy is not perfect, and growth overall is still sluggish, but the financial health of the typical household looks as healthy as it has since the recession.”
For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.
For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
The post NAR: Homebuyers, Sellers Stuck in Neutral appeared first on RISMedia.
From:: Real Estate News
Homebuyers and sellers are confident in the housing market, but there are few sales to show for it, according to recently released findings from a survey by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
NAR’s quarterly Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) report reveals homebuyers and sellers are stuck in neutral, despite a record 80 percent of homeowners surveyed for the report believing now is a good time to sell and 62 percent of renters believing now is a good time to buy. Low inventory is behind the stall, says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
“The housing market has been in a funk since early spring because of the ongoing scarcity of new and existing homes for sale,” Yun says. “The pace of new-home construction has not meaningfully broken out this year, and not enough homeowners at this point have followed through with their belief that now is a good time to sell. As a result, home shoppers have seen limited options, stiff competition and weakening affordability conditions. Buyer demand is robust this fall, but the disappointing reality is that sales will continue to undershoot their full potential until supply levels significantly improve.”
Buying a home is already a pipe dream for many renters—and pushed even further out of reach by rising rents, the report shows. Fifty-one percent of renters expect their rent to increase in the next year, but 42 percent would renew their lease, rather than buy a home, if their rent did go up. (Only 15 percent would buy a home.)
“Even though the typical down payment of a first-time buyer has been 6 percent for three straight years, two-thirds of respondents indicated that saving for one is difficult right now,” says Yun. “Rents and home prices have outpaced incomes in the past few years, and this is undoubtedly impacting their ability to put aside savings for a home purchase, even if they increasingly believe it’s a good time to buy. Heading into next year, higher home prices and limited inventory in the affordable price range will likely continue to hold back a share of renters who would prefer to be homeowners.”
More of those surveyed (57 percent) believe the economy is improving, however—optimism that could potentially translate into more earnings, and, by extension, more housing opportunities. The survey’s Personal Financial Outlook Index, which gauges respondents’ sentiment on their financial situation over the next six months, leapt up to 62.0 in September.
“Jobs are plentiful, wage growth is finally showing signs of life, home values are up considerably in the past five years and the stock market is at record highs,” Yun says. “The economy is not perfect, and growth overall is still sluggish, but the financial health of the typical household looks as healthy as it has since the recession.”
For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.
For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
The post NAR: Homebuyers, Sellers Stuck in Neutral appeared first on RISMedia.
From:: Finance and Economy
Collaboration as a concept is as old as time—but in the real estate industry, it represents a newer challenge: teams.
“Brokers, in my opinion, have three choices: embrace the concept; look at it as a necessary evil; or have a ‘no flipping way’ attitude,” said Cleve Gaddis, leader of Gaddis Partners, RE/MAX Center, and moderator of “Agent Teams: How to Manage, Maximize and Mitigate Risk,” a panel session at RISMedia’s recent 2017 Real Estate CEO Exchange.
“Teams are just a fact,” Gaddis told attendees of the exclusive event, which took place at the Harvard Club of New York City. “You either love ’em or hate ’em.”
As a panel, Gaddis and several pro-team leaders offered up lessons learned, perspective and tried-and-true tips.
The appeal, the panel agreed, is the distinct roles within the team—the whole, really, is greater than the sum of its parts.
Hunt Real Estate Corp./Hunt Real Estate ERA CEO, Chairman and President Peter Hunt
“We recognized that there really is a division of a labor in the real estate transaction,” said Peter Hunt, CEO, chairman and president of Hunt Real Estate Corp. and Hunt Real Estate ERA—whose company, incidentally, is trademarked “the most team-friendly real estate company in the U.S.”
“All the while we’ve been trying to build these perfect little real estate beings in our training process, when, in reality, people are good at things and not good at others,” Hunt said. “[Teams have] helped bring people closer together, recognize what they’re good and not good at, and contribute to what we’re all about, which is the productivity of our agents.”
“Stop trying to be good in areas where you’re weak,” said Rick Cunningham, investor and owner with Keller Williams Franchises. “Excel in areas where you’re strong, and then we’ll find the right people with the characteristics to support you.”
Embracing teams came by way of trial-and-error for Lynn Reecer, CEO and managing broker of Reecer Properties.
Reecer Properties CEO and Managing Broker Lynn Reecer discusses challenges during RISMedia’s 2017 CEO Exchange session “Agent Teams: How to Manage, Maximize and Mitigate Risk.”
“I very much believe in a quality model versus quantity,” said Reecer. “It was an experiment for a while. My [former] business partner was from the old traditional model—he wanted to bring in anyone who wanted to be an agent for us, whereas I was trying to build a team. It was very obvious which model worked best for our business philosophy and our market.”
Nate Martinez, co-owner of RE/MAX Professionals, has been on board with teams for 30 years—and, in fact, still oversees a sales team today. All that time at the helm, however, hasn’t been without missteps.
“When a team grows big, one thing that also grows very fast is ego—and ego means they’re going to leave,” said Martinez, who once lost four teams in six months. “You need to get to know your team leaders very well, and be transparent.”
Banishing the Frankenstein effect—when the monster’s got one foot out the door—comes down to organization, the panel shared.
“The biggest risk in a …read more
From:: Real Estate News
Notarize, an online notarization company, announced it rolled out a new update that will eliminate all manual processes in creating an online mortgage closing. The news rounds out the fully online digital closing. …read more
From:: Real Estate Wire
Oil prices rallied Monday, with West Texas Intermediate crude marking a more than five-month high and Brent crude settling at its highest level since 2015. “Oil prices have been going higher in recent weeks due, first and foremost, to evidence that OPEC and Russia’s efforts to reduce the global supply glut was showing positive results and that the group was somewhat surprisingly sticking to their agreement,” said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com. “Talks that the production cuts could be extended has been providing further confidence to oil investors that the rally could be sustained,” he said. November WTI crude rose $1.56, or 3.1%, to settle at $52.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude rose $2.16, or 3.8%, to end at $59.02 on ICE Futures Europe.
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