Headlines

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis announced today that Neel Kashkari has been named the company’s 13th president and chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2016. Current President and CEO Narayana Kocherlakota will end his tenure on December 31, concluding a five -ear run as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

The data, which examined 55 of the largest metro areas across the country to determine the best markets for single-family home investors looking at median price, average gross rental yields, year-over-year job growth, and home affordability, showed that the top investment market is Charlotte, North Carolina due to its strong job growth.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday that it will expand the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative to 18 more metro areas across the country to provide REO relief to communities.

United Guaranty Corp., a company of American International Group, Inc., has earned ISO/IEC 27001 certification, a globally recognized standard for managing information security risk.

Dart Appraisal, an independently-owned, nationwide appraisal management company, recently promoted Tracey Volltrauer from Vendor Manager to Director of Compliance. She is also now a member of the Dart Executive Team.

WFG National Title Insurance Company has named Thomas Klein, Esq. to continue the company’s growth and momentum by overseeing its relationships with the nation’s largest independent title agencies. He will now serve as SVP overseeing the company’s National Agency Division.

Alliant National Title Insurance Company, a title insurance underwriter that partners with Independent Agents to improve their competitive position in the marketplace, announces the promotion of Margaret Cook to deputy general counsel and SVP.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ October jobs report released last week far exceeded expectations, generating widespread speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise short-term rates in the Federal Open Market Committee’s final meeting of the year in December.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced that the standard mortgage modification interest rate will be under 4 percent for the first time ever since the benchmark was established in January 2012.

Consumer confidence in the housing market declined slightly in October, while wages and salaries struggled and kept many from purchasing a home, according to Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index.