Tag Archives: Investors

Manic markets at home and fiscal crises overseas sent investors scurrying last week to buy up Treasury debt, a trend that sent mortgage rates plunging. Experts say the low mortgage rates are unlikely to boost sales.

A new senior vice president has joined Walker

Putting capital earned from its recent initial public offering to good use, AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc., announced that it has achieved significant deployment of its new liquidity. The company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós IPO and simultaneous private placement were concurrently completed on July 6, and by utilizing the capital gained in that transaction as well as the underwriters├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó overallotment option, established and closed on July 20, AG has also been able to debut its initial portfolio.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average swept clean Tuesday's historic gains with a 519.83-point nosedive Wednesday, reflecting widespread fears about contagious European debt, the impact of Standard & Poor's downgrades, and an economic slowdown worldwide. Signaling further distress for housing markets, banks with thick mortgage portfolios and homebuilding companies saw their stocks tumble in an investor stampede for the exits. Following the Dow closely, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 plunged 101.47 points and 51.77 points, respectively.

Fidelity Mortgage, Inc. has new ownership. PSM Holdings, Inc., recently announced the completion of its acquisition, which fuses Fidelity with United Community Mortgage Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Prime Source Mortgage, Inc., via its parent company, PSMH.

Citing recent trouble on Wall Street, anemic job growth, and lags in the housing economy, the Federal Reserve made public that it will keep interest rates at historically low levels until 2013. The new language marks a market-rallying policy shift for the central bank, which previously kept mum about when it would hike up interest rates. A 429-point jump by the Dow followed a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in which the Fed's decision-makers reportedly failed to reach a consensus on interest rates.

Following on the heels of debt downgrades and a bipolar Dow Jones Industrial Average, the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities sauntered back a few steps, showing declines in special servicing loans to 12.3 percent over the second quarter this year. Successive reports from analytics company Trepp and the Wall Street Journal spotted troubling trends for CMBS markets, with credit looking to further tighten and borrowers poised to shoulder the consequences. Performing loans also fell to 29.5 percent over June, down from March.

Standard & Poor├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós continued a bold streak it started Saturday by deflating debt credit ratings for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Monday, scaring investors and adding velocity to the Dow's 630-point plunge.

Those in the market for a home in Arizona will soon have an enhanced version of the popular multiple listing service (MLS) to assist them when perusing real estate options. The Arizona Association of Realtors (AAR) recently moved to build out a statewide version of MLS via the acquisition of the state├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós most comprehensive existing MLS.

In opposition to the recently recorded declines, the Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes predicts stable numbers around the country by 2012. Notable stats from the 380 markets that the survey examined include a forecasted rise in housing affordability to pre-crisis levels and an increase in home pricing strength near the start of 2012. The Fiserv Case-Shiller Home Price Insights, available now, indicate that housing affordability could rise, since current pricing is about 5 percent above data from 2000.