Daily Dose

Irving, Texas-based lender Caliber Home Loans Inc. announced on Friday that it has completed its acquisition of Banc Home Loans. Caliber is the nation’s fourth largest non-bank lender, ...

In remarks at the Chamber of Commerce 11th Annual Capital Markets Summit, CFPB Director Richard Cordray discussed the Bureau’s recent efforts—specifically those to adapt regulations to improve compliance and implementation within the industry. The CFPB actively works to provide clarity, solicit feedback, and revise according to that feedback on all rules, he said. The Bureau will soon assess its Dodd-Frank remittances rule and its mortgage rules, as mandated by Congress.

The majority of the fastest moving market areas can be found in California. The number one hottest market for both March and February was Vallejo-Fairfield, California; followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California. The median age of inventory for these two areas were 33 days and 26 days, respectively, well below the nationwide median. Areas in California make up nine of the Realtor.com’s top 20 hottest markets. Javier Vivas, Manager of Economic Research at Realtor.com, noted the large drops om days on the market, and its indication of a strong spring buying season.

This week, Freddie Mac, The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released reports on the state of the mortgage rates. According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates are still in a decline. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell nine basis points this week, another week-over-week decline. But despite the fluctuations in rates, new home sales still managed to exceed expectations jumping 6.1 percent in February to 592,000.

The latest look at existing home sales by Ten-X anticipates a bump in home sales and prices. The firm’s Nowcast model projects March existing home sales of 5.6 million units and a median sale price of $232,55. But inventory, especially for starter homes, remains tight everywhere.

According to a paper released by Fannie Mae on Thursday, educational attainment can increase the likelihood a young adult will buy a home. The paper’s findings showed a decrease in young adult homeownership since the Great Recession, as well as a dip in the likelihood of a 25- to 34-year-old to buy a home.

Seniors are sitting on trillions in untapped equity. A recent report noted that retirement-aged homeowners saw an increase of 2.8 percent in home equity, or $170.7 billion, in Q4 2016. This puts their total housing wealth at $6.2 trillion. However, many seniors are still unwilling to tap into this wealth.

We sat down with industry veteran Joseph Melendez to learn how changing buyer demographics, technology, and the new administration are shaking things up. Melendez is the CEO of ValueInsured, a down payment protection provider based in Dallas. He has more than three decades in the insurance and financial services industry.

According to a Progress Report released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Wednesday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made significant movement on goals set forth by FHFA in the 2016 Scorecard. The report notes credit risk transfer programs that reduce taxpayer risk and improved access to credit as just a few of the developments in the last year.

The National Association of Realtor's Pending Home Sales Index showed an increase in pending home sales, the highest inn a year, and second highest in a decade. However, limited inventory continues to dampen the market, especially among homes in the low- and mid-market price range.