Data

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Economic and Mortgage Finance commentary for May 2015 written by Joel Kan, associate VP, industry survey and forecasts at MBA, economic growth struggled its way through the first quarter.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey found that mortgage applications are down 1.5 percent from last week. Freddie Mac also released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), revealing that the average fixed mortgage rates moved just slightly lower following three consecutive weeks of increases.

According to Auction.com’s, LLC Real Estate Nowcast for May, despite an unexpected drop in April, existing-home sales in May are expected to pick up and fall between seasonally adjusted annual rates of 5.03 and 5.34 million annual sales, with a goal of 5.18 million. This is a 2.9 percent increase from April and a 5.8 percent increase from a year ago.

Consumers' conservative financial behavior suggests modest economic growth for the remainder of the year, though the housing industry appears to be gaining momentum, according to Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group's May 2015 Economic Outlook released Thursday.

For the first time in two years rents grew 4 percent year-over-year, beating out home values in April, which appreciated at an annual rate of three percent, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. This intensified a “rental crisis” and signaled that home values increasing at a normal rate.

Moody’s Investors Service released a report called, “New TILA-RESPA Rule Will Heighten Possibility of Losses in US RMBS for Rule Violations” revealing that initial challenges for lenders to implement and comply with the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, along with the potential high costs of lenders who do not comply, raise the risk of losses for residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) trusts.

Auction.com, LLC, recently released its Retail Market Outlook, which offers analysis on market metrics, provided vacancy and rent projections, and reveals the top markets in which to buy and sell retail assets in 2015.

An initial public offering (IPO) of 18 million shares of Class A common stock from Black Knight Financial Services, a Jacksonville, Florida-based technology, data and analytics solutions provider for the mortgage industry, debuted Wednesday morning at the New York Stock Exchange.

Data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis found that median single-family square floor area increased from 2,445 in Q4 2014 to 2,521 square feet in Q1 2015.

In a joint announcement, the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD revealed new residential construction statistics for April 2015. This announcement included pertinent information on building permits, housing starts, and housing completions.