News

Like-kind exchanges in the real estate market are an important factor for property acquisition and disposal, and they also support the nation's financial growth, job creation, and economy, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

As the spring homebuying season comes to a close and Americans cope with the uncertain after effects of the Greek crisis on the economy, the U.S. Treasuries lowered average fixed mortgage rates down to 4.04 percent, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) results.

Federal housing officials that are in place to monitor and control thousands of government-backed loans worth millions of dollars have not handled these loans correctly for Native Americans. According to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) review for HUD's Office of Loan Guarantee (OLG) did not provide adequate oversight of the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program, resulting in an increased overall risk to the program.

Auction.com, an online real estate marketplace, has named former VP at Altisource Online Auctions Anthony Self as the new VP of industry relations. Self will focus on strengthening the company’s relationships within the real estate community and developing programs that foster long-term partnerships with agents and brokers.

In the last eight years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have guaranteed at least half of all new mortgage originations. In a report released on Thursday by the Urban Institute (UI), authors Laurie Goodman, director of Housing Finance Policy Center at UI and Karan Kaul, a research associate at UI determined that the two GSEs play an important, indisputable part in the U.S. mortgage market, but also pose a huge risk to taxpayers.

The debate over whether "too big to fail" has ended and the criteria for designating a bank holding company as "systemically important" under Dodd-Frank has continued this week as lawmakers convened to discuss the controversial law and its effect on the American financial system.

Although Federal Reserve officials determined that economic activity is expanding moderately and job gains are increasing, the federal funds rate will remain the same at a target range of 0 to ¼ percent, according to the recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) June meeting.

Freddie Mac has added another innovation to its suite of credit risk transfer offerings. According to a recent press release, the Enterprise added its first two Agency Credit Insurance Structure (ACIS) transactions that provide coverage based on both first loss and actual losses realized on a reference pool of residential mortgages.

Zillow's Breakeven Horizon analysis determined that homebuyers who made the biggest financial gains over the last decade entered the market at its lowest point. The analysis found that homeowners can still break even on a home purchase in less than two years, even while many buyers who bought 10 years ago have not broke even.

Wells Fargo & Company recently announced that Hope Hardison, who leads Human Resources for the company, will become Chief Administrative Officer, effective August 31, 2015. She will succeed newly retired Pat Callahan, who has been with the company for 38 years.