News

Three of the five indicators in Trulia's quarterly housing barometer—existing-home sales, excluding distressed sales; home price level; and delinquency plus foreclosure rate—are all more than three-quarters of the way "back to normal" as of the end of 2014, according to the company.

California's housing market made more small strides toward stability over the last 12 months, though sales activity took a dip compared to the year before. For the entire year, C.A.R. estimates that 383,320 single-family homes closed escrow across the state, a 7.6 percent decline from 2013.

In a survey released Thursday, Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged a rate of 3.66 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending January 2015, a decline of 7 basis points from last week. Last year around this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.41 percent.

Both institutions had a rough year in 2014 on the regulatory side of things. In July, Citigroup settled with the Department of Justice for $7 billion over the sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities. A month later, Bank of America settled with the DOJ for a record $16.65 billion over similar matters. The money paid out in penalties and consumer relief in 2014 took a toll on year-end net incomes for both institutions.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Thursday that applications for new home purchases fell 0.4 percent month-over-month in December. Despite the drop in applications, MBA estimates that new home sales in December came to an unadjusted 28,000, flat from November, while the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate moved up 2 percent to 409,000.

Indecomm Global Services, a firm offering business process outsourcing, learning, and technology solutions to financial services companies and other businesses, appointed Linda Bomar as VP of sales for the mortgage industry.

In a post on the company's blog site, CoreLogic estimated that cash transactions accounted for 35.5 percent of total home sales in October 2014, down from 38.7 percent the year prior. The decline continued a downward trend started in January 2013, making October the 22nd straight month to see cash sales decline on an annual basis.

As part of a push to expand its growing operation, LenderLive Network has named Mark Hughes to serve as president of its Due Diligence Division.

JPMorgan Chase reported a record net income of $21.8 billion for the full year of 2014, up from 2013's net income of $17.9 billion. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo's net income for 2014 was $23.1 billion, a 5 percent increase from a year earlier.

As FHFA Director Mel Watt revealed in his first public speech as the agency's chief, the companies' new direction revolves around three main objectives: maintain, reduce, and build. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made significant progress toward achieving the goals in FHFA's Strategic Plan for the Conservatorships last year and we look forward to building on that progress in 2015," Watt said Wednesday.