News

Builders are exuding more confidence in the real estate market as more buyers purchase homes with unwavering certainty. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in June reached a high of 59.

In a piece published as a Fox News Opinion earlier this week, Scott Brown, a Republican Senator for Massachusetts from 2010 to 2013 and Henry Cisneros, a Democrat who served as HUD Secretary from 1993 to 1997 during the Clinton Administration, urged those campaigning for next year's presidential election speak about the housing industry's most pressing issues in their campaigns and address what they call a "silent" housing crisis, since it is "largely overlooked by the media and strangely underestimated by our nation's political leaders

The housing industry has been a constant contest among homebuyers, and although competition eased up slightly last year, buyers wanting to purchase homes in the most coveted areas have not had much of a break. FindTheHome.com recently released a report titled “The 50 Most Competitive Housing Markets of 2015” that lists 50 of the most sought-after metro areas for homebuyers.

Yesterday, as mortgage rates crept up to 4 percent this week for the first time since November 2014, consumers responded with a decrease of mortgage applications by 9 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for May 2015.

Commentary is an ongoing series on theMReport.com that focuses on opinions, ideas, and insights from experts across mortgage banking. This analysis features Cari McCue, Guardian Mortgage’s COO, discussing how long-term demographic trends will affect the mortgage industry.

Borrowers who owe more money to banks than their home is worth is slowing decreasing, however more than half of these borrowers are stuck in an underwater free fall with little to no hope of resurfacing. According to Zillow’s first quarter Negative Equity Report released today, although the negative equity rate is falling, more than half or 4 million homeowners owed the bank at least 20 percent more than the worth of their home.

McLean Mortgage Corporation has announced it has hired Chad Freeman as the Bethesda, Maryland office branch manager, according to a recent press release. McLean provides turn-key service to real estate agents and customers and was recently was named the 6th Largest Mortgage Lender in the Washington, DC area by the Washington Business Journal.

In an effort to eliminate discrimination within the HUD and DOT programs and raise awareness during pride month in June, U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (D-California) proposed an amendment on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives requesting non-discrimination provisions and LGBT equality in federal housing and transportation programs

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro touted the success of HUD programs such as those to end veteran homelessness and the Jobs Plus Initiative when questioned about HUD's success during a full House Financial Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

Increases in home prices and the stock market pushed household wealth to nearly 85 trillion for the first quarter of 2015, according to the Federal Reserve’s Statistical Release titled “Financial Accounts of the United States” released today. The net worth of households and nonprofits rose increased by $1.63 trillion to $84.9 trillion during the first quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, the value of directly and indirectly held corporate equities increased $487 billion and home values rose $503 billion.