Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
With refinance activity leading the way, a weekly decline was reported for the number of prospective borrowers who initiated the home-loan process.
The Market Composite Index for the week that concluded on June 23 retreated 6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week.
Disregarding seasonal factors, the index — a measure of retail residential loan application volume — descended 7 percent from the prior report.
From:: Financing
The chief economist of Stewart Title is optimistic about the U.S. economy, the impact of rising interest rates and millennials.
Ted Jones delivered his thoughts at a luncheon sponsored by his employer and attended by Pueblo, Colorado Realtors.
As a result of likely tax reforms being pushed by the Trump administration and Congress, Jones sees a very good economy ahead.
From:: Financing
Although two cities located in the Northwest consistently top the list of areas with the fastest-rising home values, a trio of D-cities recently rounded out the top five.
As of April, the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index was 188.5. Not only were prices the highest they’ve ever been, it was the fifth consecutive monthly record.
A more closely watched index is the Case-Shiller Composite-20 Index, which was 197.19, rising 0.9 percent from March and escalating 5.7 percent from April 2016.
From:: Financing
The mortgage banking remnants of a bank that failed during the depths of the financial crisis have been scooped up by one of the nation’s biggest lenders.
In late 2009, the =Office of Thrift Supervision seized and closed down AmTrust Bank. The Cleveland-based financial institution was a big wholesale lender.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was appointed conservator of AmTrust by the OTS, accepted a bid by New York Community Bank to acquire the failed bank.
From:: Financing
The reverse mortgage unit of a Maryland-based home lender has been sold in a transaction that promises to create a top-tier reverse mortgage lender.
Huron Valley Financial Inc. was already in the reverse mortgage space through subsidiary 1st Nations Reverse Mortgage, which was launched in October 2016.
But the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based organization aspires to be a bigger player. So it has made an acquisition that will help it achieve greater market share.
From:: Financing
Quarterly mortgage originations were slower at Finance of America Holdings LLC. Also diminishing was the lender’s staffing and servicing portfolio.
The Horsham, Pennsylvania-based firm serviced 15,514 single-family loans with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $3.272 billion as of March 31.
Finance of America disclosed the data, along with other operational metrics, as part of the Mortgage Daily First Quarter 2017 Mortgage Origination Survey.
From:: Financing
An auction is being held for mortgage servicing rights on Government National Mortgage Association loans from a financial institution that failed last month.
An offering is being made on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that includes MSRs on 540 Ginnie Mae loans with a collective unpaid principal balance of $73 million.
The FDIC is selling the MSRs as receiver for Guaranty Bank, which last month was closed down by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
From:: Financing
After worsening for several months in a row, the past-due rate on securitized commercial real estate loans moved lower. Office building loans drove the decline.
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Loans that are included in commercial mortgage-backed securities had a 30-day delinquency rate of 3.09 percent as of May 31, 2017.
The ratio of past-due CMBS payments improved from 3.14 percent the preceding month — when delinquency had been up five consecutive months.
From:: Financing
The guilty plea of a former franchise owner of We Buy Ugly Houses has prompted the company to issue a statement condemning the real estate fraud.
Karen Lynn McClaflin and a partner opened an ugly houses franchise in late 2005. The venture was named Trademark Properties and Trademark Reality.
The Colorado Springs, Colorado, business used investor money to purchase and renovate distressed homes. They would resell those properties at a profit.
From:: Financing
Senior mortgage banking executives are expecting that demand for non-agency programs will intensify. At the same time, the group expects requirements on such programs to ease.
On loans to finance a home purchase that are eligible for government-sponsored enterprise programs, half of home-lending executives experienced increased demand over the past three months.
At the same time, 22 percent reported that consumer demand had weakened. That put the net-up share at 28 percent, far below the 70 percent net-up share in the year-prior period.
From:: Financing