The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released Tuesday, showed house prices gained 9.3 percent across 20 of the country's biggest cities, down substantially from the 10.8 percent increase recorded for April and the slowest growth rate since February 2013. Economists had expected an increase of 9.9 percent for May.
Read More »Zillow Announces Trulia Acquisition
Zillow, Inc., announced Monday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire longtime rival Trulia, Inc., for $3.5 billion in stock.
Read More »CFPB Director to Testify About Discrimination Allegations
The House Financial Services Committee is set to hear testimony from CFPB Director Richard Cordray on Wednesday about allegations of discrimination at the bureau. Wednesday's hearing will be the third hearing on the matter following earlier allegations from whistleblowers that CFPB fostered "a culture of racial and gender discrimination and retaliation against its employees."
Read More »Mortgage Loan Risk Recedes
According to the American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) latest National Mortgage Risk Index, the share of home purchase loans at risk of going sour in the event of an economic downturn fell nearly half a percentage point last month to 11.44 percent. According to the group, the risk value of loans securitized in Fannie and Freddie's portfolios fell slightly to 5.8 percent, while the risk index for FHA slipped to 23.6.
Read More »CFPB Proposes to Simplify HMDA Reporting
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a rule that would update the reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The proposed rule purports to standardize the reporting threshold for most lenders, relax the reporting requirements for some smaller lenders, and improve the electronic reporting process.
Read More »Illinois Bank Becomes 14th to Fall in 2014
The fallout of the financial crisis caught up to another bank over the weekend, resulting in a shutdown by federal regulators. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced on Friday the closure of Chicago-based GreenChoice Bank. The recently shuttered bank is the second to fall in Illinois in the past two months and the 14th FDIC-insured institution to close so far this year.
Read More »Pending Home Sales Wane in June
NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, an indicator of future home sales based on contract signings, fell to 102.7 last month, down 1.1 percent from May and 7.3 percent from June 2013. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said that while the housing market is stabilizing, ongoing challenges are holding sales back from their full potential.
Read More »May Sees New Price Peaks for Texas, Colorado
Home prices in May hit a national index value of $239,000, according to Black Knight Financial Services' most recent Home Price Index (HPI) report.
Read More »2014 Expected to See Slowest Growth Since Start of Recovery
Despite an anticipated pickup in economic growth and housing recovery in the second half of this year, Fannie Mae expects the economy to grow at just 1.5 percent overall this year. Fannie revised its previous estimate of 2.1 percent growth for 2014 after a disappointing start to the year.
Read More »New Business Reaches Six-Month High at Freddie
Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolio shrank in June at its slowest pace so far this year as new business hit a six-month high. The mortgage giant reported in its June volume summary that its total portfolio declined at an annualized rate of 0.1 percent, down from May's contraction rate of 2.1 percent and bringing the monthly growth average to -2.0 percent.
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