Headlines

In California, Valuation Vision (V2) announced its valuation management platform has been selected as the technology of choice for appraisal firm Zaio’s newly launched GEAR AP product.

According to estimates from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), total existing-home sales in March came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million, a 0.2 percent slip from February’s downwardly revised pace of 4.60 million and hitting a nearly two-year low. Compared to March 2013, the sales rate was down 7.5 percent.

A weaker-than-expected first quarter has researchers at Fannie Mae amending their forecast for growth in 2014, but they still project acceleration as the year progresses. “The April economic forecast is similar to February and March, where slow growth has been the common denominator, but we expect to see a slight pickup beginning this quarter,” explained Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae.

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (LEI) was updated Monday, rising for the third straight month. The LEI increased 0.8 percent in March to 100.9, outpacing increases of 0.2 percent in January and 0.5 percent in February. The outlook in the analytic system points more to a peak than a trough in coming months, according to the group.

A survey of real estate agents released Monday finds a growing number of homeowners have turned to all-cash financing in order to avoid the red tape that comes with mortgage lending. According to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, an estimated 26.2 percent of home purchases by current homeowners in March relied solely on cash, up from a 12-month low of 22.8 percent recorded last August.

Out of Colorado, Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (SLS), an independent, third-party mortgage servicer, announced the addition of Ryan Conser to the team as SVP of research and analytics.

Data released last week by the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) shows statewide sales of existing, single-family homes totaling a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 367,000 last month, up 1.4 percent from February but down 12.3 percent from year-ago levels. It was the fifth straight month in which sales came in below 400,000 and the eighth straight annual decline, C.A.R. reported.

In Davis v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the federal court of appeal in New York, reversing the decision of the district court, held that JPMorgan Chase’s mortgage underwriters were not exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court of appeal, based on the evidence before it, found that the mortgage underwriters’ primary duty was to sell loan products under the detailed directions of a credit guide provided to them by the bank.

The market is much healthier this year, and with the growth in inventory and days on the market for the buyers and with modest price increases present, the overall outlook is good, according to Realtor.com's National Housing Trends report for March. The stats from Realtor.com showed a 9.5 percent growth over March of last year, with 1,841,844 units at a median price of $199,900, which was also 5.3 percent higher. Last year showed an imbalance with a shorter supply and a heavy increase in home prices.

Axios Valuation Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of eMortgage Logic, has been named as an approved appraisal management company (AMC) by Flagstar Bank.