Data

In Connecticut, Total Mortgage Services' wholesale division is relaunching with a re-energized focus--and a brand new name, the company announced. Formerly known as TMS Funding, the division is now operating as Total Mortgage Wholesale.

Despite the numerous challenges that sprang up throughout 2013, the housing market still managed to finish the year in a healthier position than in 2012, according to the latest figures from Realtor.com. The site's statistics for December indicate the median national list price ended 2013 at $194,500, up 8.1 percent compared to the end of 2012. Relative to November, however, prices were down 1.6 percent--marking the late arrival of the "usual seasonal winter slow down," Realtor.com says.

As analysts continue to watch market indicators for trends that might hamper the borrowing experience, a recent poll shows that borrowers themselves are more focused on customer service problems.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has launched a new initiative designed to mitigate the damage of housing's boom-and-bust cycles. Designed by AEI fellows Edward Pinto and Stephen Oliner, the newly unveiled Mortgage Risk Index measures the safety of lending the United States by gauging how mortgage loans would perform under stress (as defined by the experience of loans originated in 2007). According to the index, mortgage risk today is high compared to the "sound lending practices in place in 1990."

Homebuyers hoping for more inventory and greater variety in December didn't get their wish, online brokerage Redfin reported in its latest Real-Time Price Tracker. According to the company's data, the total number of for-sale homes dropped to just below 200,000 in the final month of 2013--a monthly drop of 14.1 percent. While declines are normal for the season, December's decrease was the steepest since at least 2008, says Redfin analyst Tommy Unger.

Pite Duncan, LLP, announced the promotion of Christopher Peterson to partner.

In its latest forecast, analytics firm Veros Real Estate Solutions predicts home prices will rise on average 5.1 percent for the nation's top 100 metro areas. The company's previous 2014 projections, released last quarter, called for 4.8 percent growth. "The future HPI [Home Price Index] forecast continues to show good appreciation, but the markets appear to be topping out for now," said Eric Fox, Veros' VP of statistical and economic modeling and author of the company's VeroFORECAST.

The housing market has made great strides in recovering from the problems that ail it, but there are still major improvements that have to occur before it's back up to full health, Freddie Mac says in its latest Economic and Housing Market Outlook. The GSE's outlook focuses on four things the market needs to see before it can say the crisis is well and truly behind it: a healthy jobs market, mortgage delinquencies back down to historical averages, home prices consistent with payment-to-income ratios, and home sales more in line with historical norms.

Despite efforts to bring greater equality to the housing market, research conducted by Zillow suggests black and Hispanic homebuyers still face greater difficulties related to homeownership than whites. The study found blacks and Hispanics were more likely to apply for a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) than a conventional loan, and out of those that did go for a conventional mortgage, black and Hispanic applicants were far more likely to be denied.

After loosening steadily for several months, credit standards for mortgage loans ended 2013 at their lowest level all year, according to the December Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae.