President and CEO of Genworth Mortgage Insurance and Chair of U.S. Mortgage Insurers Rohit Gupta testified on behalf of the Mortgage Insurance Industry (MI) at the House Financial Services Committee Housing and Insurance Subcommittee today stressing the need for balance between the roles of the Federal Housing Administration and MI when to comes to taxpayers.
Read More »Mortgage Rates Rise for Third Straight Week, Still Down from December
Mortgage rates are up for the third straight week of February, according to a report released by Freddie Mac on Thursday. However, fixed mortgage rates still remain near late May 2013 lows and numbers released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday show mortgage rates on a month-to-month basis are down in January. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year FRM rate increased to 3.8 percent from last week’s rate of 3.76 percent.
Read More »New Trulia Survey Shows Americans Dream of Bigger Homes
Bigger is better when it comes to dream homes, according to a report released Thursday by Trulia called “Dreaming Big: Americans Still Yearning for Larger Homes.” According to the report, dreaming of a bigger homes spans all generations with Baby Boomers, Millennials, and GenXers all surveying they want more space.
Read More »Fed Chair Cites Slow Productivity Growth in Reluctance to Raise Interest Rates
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in her testimony to Congress on Wednesday said the Fed would be using "patience" on deciding when to increase interest rates. Yellen was cautious about citing any particular date for the increase, citing slow productivity growth as one of the reasons for the delay.
Read More »HUD Secretary Testifies Before House Committee About Department’s Budget Increase
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro addressed the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Wednesday on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget proposal for HUD, where he emphasized ...
Read More »Zillow’s 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Dips After Hitting 13-Week High
The current 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow mortgages has taken a slight dip down to 3.76 percent after reaching a 13-week high of 3.85 percent on Tuesday.
Read More »Residential AD&C Loans Increase Slightly to End 2014
Data released from the FDIC and NAHB show the stock of 1-4 unit residential loans rose by $1.158 billion during the fourth quarter. That is an increase of 2.23 percent. While limited availability for construction loans has been preventing a rebound in home construction, residential loan stock has been rising for the past two years.
Read More »FHFA to Host HARP Outreach Event in New Jersey March 4
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will be trying to get the more than 20,000 New Jersey residents still eligible to sign up for the Home Affordable Refinance Program at their fifth outreach event to be held in Newark on March 4.
Read More »Nine Cities Show Increases in S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
Home prices were a mixed bag in December with nine cities showing increases, six cities recording decreases, and five cities showing relatively flat changes. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released Tuesday, show the national housing index fell 0.1 percent from November to December. However, the 10- and 20-city indices instead rose with a slight increase of 0.1 percent month-to-month.
Read More »Congress to Examine Financial Health of FHA in Hearing
The Housing and Insurance Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services will hold the second hearing in the series, entitled The Future of Housing in America: Oversight of the Federal Housing Administration, Part II, on Thursday, February 26, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
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