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Author Archives: Tory Barringer

Tory Barringer began his journalism career in early 2011, working as a writer for the University of Texas at Arlington's student newspaper before joining the DS News team in 2012. In addition to contributing to DSNews.com, he is also the online editor for DS News' sister publication, MReport, which focuses on mortgage banking news.

Existing-Home Sales Hit 2014 High

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Thursday that sales of existing homes (including single-family houses, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops) hit a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 5.15 million last month, up 2.4 percent from a downwardly revised June. Looking only at single-family homes, July sales improved 2.7 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted pace of 4.45 million but still fell 4.2 percent short of last year.

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Peak Housing Season Closes with ‘Healthy’ July Numbers

Housing market trends kept their spring momentum in July—and are expected to remain solid in the months ahead, Realtor.com said Wednesday in its National Housing Trend Report for the month. For the first time since the start of the housing recovery in 2012, Realtor.com says the end of the annual peak buying season passed this year without any outside economic influences creeping in.

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Mortgage Apps Rise in Latest Survey

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 1.4 percent seasonally adjusted bump in application volumes for the week ending August 15, a partial reversal from the 2.7 percent decline reported the week prior. While last week's results were lifted by improvement in applications for conventional mortgages, they were also weighed down by a 5.9 percent decrease in applications for government mortgages.

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Mortgage Closing Rate Drops from Record High

Despite a slight easing in credit standards, the percentage of loan applications closed in July slipped to a three-month low, Ellie Mae reported Wednesday in its monthly Origination Insight Report. Tracking loan applications initiated 90 days prior, the company calculated an overall closing rate of 57.7 percent last month, down from 60.7 percent in June and 57.8 percent in May.

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Firms Boost Originations, Shrink Servicing in Q2

Based on data collected from April through June, Mortgage Daily reported a 24 percent quarterly increase in mortgage originations to an estimated $296 billion among all lenders as of June 30. Production still fell short 51 percent on an annual basis as consumer demand for mortgages remained anemic and credit standards stayed tight.

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CFPB Adjusts QM Thresholds on Points and Fees

Seven months after the implementation of its ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) rules, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it is tweaking the loan thresholds used to determine the maximum points and fees for QM loans.

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Housing Starts Jump in July; Permits Lag

According to figures released Tuesday by HUD and the Commerce Department, privately owned housing starts last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million, a 15.7 percent spike from June's upwardly revised rate of 945,000 and a 21.7 percent gain over the same month last year. While most of last month's improvement came from a surge in multifamily building, single-family starts posted a solid gain, rising 8.3 percent to 656,000.

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All-Cash Sales Share Falls Back from Three-Year High

The second quarter of 2014 saw fewer all-cash home sales than the first quarter as institutional investors backed off from the market. In a quarterly report released Tuesday, RealtyTrac reported all-cash transactions made up 37.9 percent of all single-family home and condo sales in April, May, and June, down from the first quarter's three-year high of 42.0 percent but up from 35.7 percent in the year-ago quarter.

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Builder Confidence Improves for Third Month

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported on Monday a two-point increase in its Housing Market Index, a gauge of builder sentiment measuring current single-family new home sales, expected sales six months out, and volume of traffic from prospective homebuyers. As of August, the index measured 55, five points above the benchmark separating a market largely viewed as poor from one viewed as good.

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