Home >> Featured (page 892)

Featured

Cash Sales Share Hits 4-Year Low

Home sales transacted in cash slipped again in May, falling to a four-year low but remaining elevated compared to the long-run average. According to sales data put together by CoreLogic, cash sales made up 34.4 percent of total home sales in May, down from 37.4 percent a year prior. It was the lowest share since May 2010, when all-cash sales started ramping up to an eventual peak of 46.2 percent in January 2011.

Read More »

80% of Lenders Shy Away from Non-QM Business

In a follow-up piece on the company's inaugural Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey, Li-Ning Huang, senior manager of Economic and Strategic Research at Fannie Mae, found that most of the lenders surveyed don't plan to change their current strategy in response to January's regulatory changes, with 46 percent saying they plan to "wait and see" what happens in the market before acting.

Read More »

Freddie Mac: Clearer Path Ahead for Housing

After half a year of failed predictions and slow starts, the U.S. economy actually appears to be closing in on normal, at least according to Freddie Mac. Freddie's latest Economic and Housing Market Outlook shows that the agency expects to see the U.S. housing market driven once again by fundamentals—jobs, household formations, and affordability—rather than economic upheaval.

Read More »

Mortgage Applications See Slight Decrease

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 2.7 percent decrease in mortgage application volume from a week earlier in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 8. Both the Refinance Index and the Purchase Index both fell to their lowest levels in months, dropping 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Read More »

Q2 Wrap-Up: Mortgage Earnings Lift Off Low Base

With the second-quarter earnings season mostly done, financial services firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) reports that mortgage bankers tracked in its coverage saw a 22 percent increase in volumes from the first quarter to the second. "We view the mortgage results for the banks that have already reported 2Q earnings as largely in line with expectations," KBW commented.

Read More »

Home Price Moderation Continues in Second Quarter

According to a quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors, median existing single-family home prices increased in 71 percent of measured markets last quarter, with 122 out of 173 metros posting annual increases from Q2 2013. Nineteen of those areas reported double-digit increases. Those numbers reflected a slowdown from the first quarter, when prices rose in 74 percent of metros, and 37 areas saw gains higher than 10 percent.

Read More »

We’ve Come a Long Way Baby

It might be old hat to say that women have come a long way in the workforce in the past half-century, but it's true. For its special August issue, MReport explored the ascent of women in the workplace, putting a spotlight on just a few of those who have made their way up the ladder.

Read More »